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THE    CONQUEST   OF 
THE    GREAT   NORTHWEST 


(  (illicr's  famous  picture  of  lludson's  La^I  1  lour 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE 
GREAT  NORTHWEST 


Being  the  story  of  the  JDFENTURERS  OF  ENGLAND 
known  as  THE  HVDSON' S  BAT  COMPANY.  New  pages 
in  the  history   of  the    Canadian    Northwest   and  Western   States. 


AGNES     C.     LAUT 

Author  of  "Lords  of  the  North," 
"Pathfinders  of  the  West"  etc. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES 
Volume  I 


NEW   YORK 

THE   OUTING    PUBLISHING   COMPANY 

MCMVIII 


Copyright,    1908,   by 
THE  OUTING   PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London,  England 
All  Rigbti   Rcitr-ved 


LIBRARY 


V 


G.  C.  L. 

and 
C.  M.  A. 


CONTENTS   OF   VOLUME   I 


PART    I 
CHAPTER   I 

PAGE 

Henry  Hudson's  First  Voyage  .....       3 

CHAPTER    11 
Hudson's  Second  Voyage  ......      16 

CHAPTER    in 
Hudson's  Third  Voyage  .  .  .  .  .  .     a6 

CHAPTER    IV 
Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage         ......     49 

CHAPTER   V 

The    Adventures    of    the    Danes    on    Hudson    Bay — Jens 

Munck's  Crew  .......     73 


PART   II 


CHAPTER   VI 

Radisson,    the    Pathfinder,    Discovers    Hudson    Bay    and 

Founds  the  Company  of  Gentlemen  Adventurers  .      97 

CHAPTER   VII 

The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage — Radisson  Driven 
Back  Organizes  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
Writes  his  Journals  of  Four  Voyages — The  Charter 
and  the  First  Shareholders — Adventures  of  Radisson 
on  the  Bay — The  Coming  of  the  French  and  the 
Quarrel in 

ix 


Contents 

CHAPTER   VIII 

PAGB 

'■Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England" — Lords  of  the 
Outer  Marches — Two  Centuries  of  Company  Rule — 
Secret  Oaths — The  Use  of  Whiskey — The  Matrimonial 
Offices — The  Part  the  Company  Played  in  the  Game 
of  International  Juggling — How  Trade  and  Voyages 
Were  Conducted       .......    132 

CHAPTER   IX 

If  Radisson  Can  Do  Without  the  Adventurers,  the  Adven- 
turers Cannot  Do  Without  Radisson — The  Eruption 
of  the  French  on  the  Bay — The  Beginning  of  the 
Raiders  ........    162 

CHAPTER   X 

The  Adventurers  Furious  at  Radisson,  Find  it  Cheaper  to 
Have  him  as  a  Friend  than  Enemy  and  Invite  him 
Back — The  Real  Reason  Why  Radisson  Returned — 
The  Treacher}'  of  Statecraft — Young  Chouart  Out- 
raged, Nurses  his  Wrath  and  Gayly  Comes  on  the 
Scene  Monsieur  P6t6 — Scout  and  Spy  .  .  .    180 

CHAPTER    XI 

Wherein  the  Reasons  for  Young  Chouart  Groseiller's 
Mysterious  Message  to  Our  Good  Friend  "F6t6"  are 
Explained — The  Forest  Rovers  of  New  France  Raid 
the  Bay  by  Sea  and  Land — Two  Ships  Sunk — P^r^, 
the  Spy,  Seized  and  Sent  to  England  .  .  .198 

CHAPTER   XII 
Pierre  le  Moyne  d' Iberville  Sweeps  the  Bay        .  .  .an 

CHAPTER   XIII 
D 'Iberville  Sweeps  the  Bay  (coMitn«^d)     .  .  .  .228 

CHAPTER    XIV 

What    Became    of    Radisson? — New    Facts    on    the    Last 

Days  of  the  Famous  Pathfinder  .  .  .  .256 


Contents 


PART   III 
CHAPTER   XV 

PAGE 

The  First  Attempts  of  the  Adventurers  to  Explore — 
Henry  Kelsey  Penetrates  as  far  as  the  Valley  of  the 
Saskatchewan — Sanford  and  Arrington,  Known  as 
"  Red  Cap,"  Found  Henley  House  Inland  from  Albany 
— Beset  from  Without,  the  Company  is  also  Beset 
from  Within — Petitions  Against  the  Charter — Increase 
of  Capital — Restoration  of  the  Bay  from  France         .   277 

CHAPTER   XVI 

Old  Captain  Knight,  Beset  by  Gold  Fever,  Hears  the  Call  of 
the  North — The  Straits  and  Bay — The  First  Harvest 
of  the  Sea  at  Dead  Man's  Island — Castaways  for 
Three  Years — The  Company,  Beset  by  Gold  Fever, 
Increases  its  Stock — Pays  Ten  Per  Cent,  on  Twice 
Trebled  Capital — Coming  of  Spies  Again     .  .  .298 

CHAPTER    XVII 

The  Company's  Prosperity  Arouses  Opposition — Arthur 
Dobbs  and  the  Northwest  Passage  and  the  Attack  on 
the  Charter — No  Northwest  Passage  is  Found,  but 
the  French  Spur  the  English  to  Renewed  Activity     .   320 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

The  March  Across  the  Continent  Begins — The  Company 
Sends  a  Man  to  the  Blackfeet  of  the  South  Saskatche- 
wan— Anthony  Hendry  is  the  First  Englishman  to 
Penetrate  to  the  Saskatchewan — The  First  Englishman 
to  Winter  West  of  Lake  Winnipeg — He  Meets  the 
Sioux  and  the  Blackfeet  and  Invites  them  to  the  Bay  334 

CHAPTER    XIX 

Extension  of  Trade  toward  Labrador,  Quebec  and  Rockies 
— Hearne  Finds  the  Athabasca  Country  and  Founds 
Cumberland  House  on  the  Saskatchewan — Cocking 
Proceeds  to  the  Blackfeet — Howse  Finds  the  Pass  in 
Rockies 355 

xi 


Contents 


CHAPTER   XX 

PAGB 

'The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars" — "A  New  Race  of  Wood- 
rovers  Throngs  to  the  Northwest — Bandits  of  the 
Wilds  War  Among  Themselves — Tales  of  Border  War- 
fare, Wassail  and  Grandeur — The  New  Northwest 
Companv  Challenges  the  Authority  and  Feudalism  of 
the  HuQson's  Bay  Company 389 


Xll 


ADDENDA 


PAGE 


Map  of  Hudson's  First  and  Second  Voyages    .  .22 

Map  of  Hudson's  Third  Voyage — Hudson  River  46 

Map  showing  Hudson's  and  Munck's  Voyages.         .         .   408 


Contents 


CHAPTER   XX 

PAGE 

'The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars" — "A  New  Race  of  Wood- ■ 
rovers  Ihrongs  to  the  Northwest — Bandits  of  the 
Wilds  War  Among  Themselves — Tales  of  Border  War- 
fare, Wassail  and  Grandeur — The  New  Northwest 
Company  Challenges  the  Authority  and  Feudalism  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 389 


Xll 


J 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Collier's  Famous  Picture  of  Hudson's  Last  Hours     Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Prince  Rupert        ........     lo 

James  n,  Duke  of  York  ......     26 

New  Amsterdam  or  New  York  from  an  Old  Print  of  1660     .     34 
Albany  from  an  Old  Print       .         .         .         ,         .         -34 
The  Duke  of  Marlborough       ......     42 

Le  Moyne  d' Iberville      .......     58 

Iberville's  Ship  Run  Aground  Off  Nelson  in  a  Hurricane      .     74 
Churchill  Harbor  as  Drawn  by  Munck      .  .         .         .82 

Le    Moyne    d' Iberville's    French    Rangers    and    Canadian 

Wood-runners  Besieging  Fort  Nelson         .         .         .90 
Bienville       .........    106 

Photograph  of  the  Copy  of  Radisson's  Voyage  .         .         -114 
Rupert  House  .         .         .         .         .         .         .130 

Copy  of  Robson's  Drawing  of  York  Harbor       .         .         .170 
Silver  Fox  Skins    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .178 

Montagu  House     ........   202 

Petition  of  the  H.  B.  C.  Signed  by  Churchill,  or  Marlborough  218 
Terms  of  Surrender    Between    Le  Moyne  d' Iberville   and 

Governor  Walsh  at  York  Fort  ......  234 

Radisson's  House  ........  258 

Fort  Rae,  on  Great  Slave  Lake        .....  362 

Traders  Leaving  Athabasca  Landing        ....  378 

xiii 


FOREWORD 

IT  HAS  become  almost  a  truism  to  say  that  no 
complete  account  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Adven- 
turers has  yet  been  written.  I  have  often 
wondered  if  the  people  who  repeated  that  statement 
knew  what  they  meant.  The  empire  of  the  fur  trade 
Adventurers  was  not  confined  to  Rupert's  Land,  as 
specified  by  their  charter.  Lords  of  the  Outer 
Marches,  these  gay  Gentlemen  Adventurers  setting 
sail  over  the  seas  of  the  Unknown,  Soldiers  of  Fortune 
with  a  laugh  for  life  or  death  carving  a  path  through 
the  wilderness — were  not  to  be  checked  by  the  mere 
fiction  of  limits  set  by  a  charter.  They  followed  the 
rivers  of  their  bay  south  to  the  height  of  land,  and 
looking  over  it  saw  the  unoccupied  territory  of  the 
Great  Lakes  and  the  Upper  Mississippi.  It  was 
American  territory;  but  what  did  that  matter?  Over 
they  marched  and  took  possession  in  Minnesota  and 
the  two  Dakotas  and  Montana.  This  region  was 
reached  by  way  of  Albany  River.  Then  they  fol- 
lowed the  Saskatchewan  up  and  looked  over  its 
height  of  land.  To  the  north  were  MacKenzie 
River  and  the  Yukon;   to  the  west,  the  Fraser  and 

XV 


Foreword 

the  Columbia.  By  no  feat  of  imagination  could  the 
charter  be  stretched  to  these  regions.  Canadian 
merchants  were  on  the  field  in  MacKenzie  River. 
Russians  claimed  Alaska.  Americans  claimed  Ore- 
gon down  as  far  as  the  Spanish  Settlements;  but 
these  things  did  not  matter.  The  Hudson's  Bay 
Adventurers  went  over  the  barriers  of  mountains  and 
statecraft,  and  founding  their  fur  empire  of  wild- 
wood  rovers,  took  toll  of  the  wilderness  in  cargoes  of 
precious  furs  outvaluing  all  the  taxes  ever  collected 
by  a  conqueror.  All  this  was  not  enough.  South  of 
the  Columbia  was  an  unknown  region  the  size  of  half 
Europe — California,  Nevada,  Utah,  Wyoming,  Idaho. 
The  wildwood  rovers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Adven- 
turers swept  south  in  pack-horse  brigades  of  two-  and 
three-hundreds  from  the  Columbia  to  Monterey. 
Where  Utah  railroads  now  run,  their  trappers  found 
the  trail.  Where  gold  seekers  toiled  to  death  across 
Nevada  deserts,  Hudson's  Bay  trappers  had  long 
before  marched  in  dusty  caravans  sweeping  the  wil- 
derness of  beaver.  Where  San  Francisco  stands  to- 
day, the  English  Adventurers  once  owned  a  thousand- 
acre  farm.  By  a  bold  stroke  of  statecraft,  they  had 
hoped  to  buy  up  Mexico's  bad  debts  and  trade  those 
debts  for  proprietary  rights  in  California.  The  story 
of  why  they  failed  is  theme  for  novelist  or  poet  rather 
than  historian.     Suffice  to  say,  their  Southern  Bri- 

xvi 


Foreword 

gades,  disguised  as  Spanish  horsemen,  often  went 
south  as  far  as  Monterey.  Yet  more!  The  Hud- 
son's Bay  Adventurers  had  a  station  half  way  across 
the  Pacific  in  Hawaii. 

In  all,  how  large  was  their  fur  empire?  Larger, 
by  actual  measurement,  much  larger,  than  Europe. 
Now  what  person  would  risk  reputation  by  saying 
no  complete  account  had  yet  been  written  of  all 
Europe?  The  thing  is  so  manifestly  impossible,  it 
is  absurd.  Not  one  complete  account,  but  hundreds 
of  volumes  on  different  episodes  will  go  to  the  making 
of  such  a  complete  history.  So  is  it  of  the  vast  area 
ruled  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The  time 
will  come  when  each  district  will  demand  as  separate 
treatment  as  a  Germany,  or  a  France  or  an  Italy  in 
its  history.  All  that  can  be  attempted  in  one  volume 
or  one  series  of  volumes  is  the  portrayal  of  a  single 
movement,  or  a  single  episode,  or  a  single  character. 
In  this  account,  I  have  attempted  to  tell  the  story 
of  the  Company  only  as  adventurer,  pathfinder,  em- 
pire-builder, from  Rupert's  Land  to  California — 
feudal  lord  beaten  off  the  field  by  democracy.  Where 
the  empire-builder  merges  with  the  colonizer  and 
pioneer,  I  have  stopped  in  each  case.  In  Manitoba, 
the  passing  of  the  Company  was  marked  by  the  Riel 
Rebellion;  in  British  Columbia,  by  the  mad  gold 
stampede;    in   Oregon,   by   the  terrible   Whitman 

xvii 


Foreword 

massacres;  in  California,  by  the  fall  of  Spanish 
power.  All  these  are  dramas  in  themselves  worthy 
of  poet  or  novelist ;  but  they  are  not  germane  to  the 
Adventurers.  Therefore,  they  are  not  given  here. 
Who  takes  up  the  story  where  I  leave  off,  must  hang 
the  narrative  on  these  pegs. 

Another  intentional  omission.  From  the  time  the 
Adventurers  wrote  off  ;!(^ioo,ooo  loss  for  search  of  the 
North-West  Passage,  Arctic  Exploration  has  no  part 
in  this  story.  In  itself,  it  is  an  enthralling  story; 
but  to  give  even  the  most  scrappy  reference  to  it 
here  would  necessitate  crowding  out  essential  parts 
of  the  Adventurers'  record — such  as  McLoughlin's 
transmontane  empire,  or  the  account  of  the  South 
Bound  Brigades.  Therefore,  latter  day  Arctic  work 
has  no  mention  here.  For  the  same  reason,  I  have 
been  compelled  to  omit  the  dramatic  story  of  the 
early  missions.     These  merit  a  book  to  themselves. 

Throughout — with  the  exception  of  four  chapters, 
I  may  say  altogether — I  have  relied  for  the  thread 
of  my  narrative  on  the  documents  in  Hudson's  Bay 
House,  London;  the  Minute  Books  of  some  two 
hundred  years,  the  Letter  Books,  the  Stock  Books, 
the  Memorial  Books,  the  Daily  Journals  kept  by 
chief  factors  at  every  post  and  sent  to  London  from 
1670.     These  documents  are  in  tons.    They  are  not 

xviii 


Foreword 

open  to  the  public.  They  are  unclassified;  and  in 
the  case  of  Minute  Books  are  in  duplicates,  "the 
Foule  Minutes" — as  the  inscription  on  the  old  parch- 
ment describes  them — being  rough,  almost  unread- 
able, notes  jotted  down  during  proceedings  with 
interlinings  and  blottings  to  be  copied  into  the  Minute 
Books  marked  "Faire  Copie."  In  some  cases,  the 
latter  has  been  lost  or  destroyed;  and  only  the  un- 
corrected one  remains.  It  is  necessary  to  state  this 
because  discrepancies  will  be  found — noted  as  the 
story  proceeds — which  arise  from  the  fact  that  some 
volumes  of  the  corrected  minutes  have  been  lost. 
The  Minute  Books  consist  variously  from  one  to  five 
hundred  pages  each. 

Beside  the  documents  of  Hudson's  Bay  House, 
London,  there  is  a  great  mass  of  unpublished,  unex- 
ploited  material  bearing  on  the  Company  in  the 
Public  Records  Office,  London.  I  had  some  thou- 
sands of  pages  of  transcripts  of  these  made  which 
throw  marvelous  side  light  on  the  printed  records  of 
Radisson;  of  Iberville;  of  Pari.  Report  1749;  of  the 
Coltman  Report  and  Blue  Book  of  1817-22;  and  the 
Americans  in  Oregon. 

In  many  episodes,  the  story  told  here  will  differ 
almost  unrecognizably  from  accepted  versions  and 
legends  of  the  same  era.  This  is  not  by  accident. 
Nor  is  it  because  I  have  not  consulted  what  one  writer 

xix 


Foreword 

sarcastically  called  to  my  attention  as  ''the  secondary 
authorities" — the  words  are  his,  not  mine.  Nearly 
all  these  authorities  from  earliest  to  latest  days  are 
in  my  own  library  and  interlined  from  many  read- 
ings. Where  I  have  departed  from  old  versions  of 
famous  episodes,  it  has  been  because  records  left  in 
the  handwriting  of  the  actors  themselves  compelled 
me;  as  in  the  case  of  Selkirk's  orders  about  Red 
River,  Ogden's  discoveries  in  Nevada  and  Utah 
and  California,  Thompson's  explorations  of  Idaho, 
Howse's  explorations  in  the  Rockies,  Ogden's  rob- 
bery of  the  Americans,  the  Americans'  robbery  of 
him. 

I  regret  I  have  no  clue  to  any  Spanish  version  of 
why  Glen  Rae  blew  out  his  brains  in  San  Francisco. 
On  this  episode,  I  have  relied  on  the  legends  current 
among  the  old  Hudson's  Bay  officers  and  retold  so 
well  by  Bancroft. 

To  Mr.  C.  C.  Chipman,  commissioner »of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  to  Mr.  William  Ware,  the  sec- 
retary, and  Lord  Strathcona-and-Mount-Royal,  the 
Governor — I  owe  grateful  thanks  for  access  to  the 
H.  B.  C.  documents. 

On  the  whole,  the  record  of  the  Adventurers,  is 
not  one  to  bring  the  blush  of  regret  to  those  jealous 
for  the  Company's  honor.  It  is  a  record  of  daring 
and  courage  and  adventuring  and  pomp — in  the  best 

XX 


Foreword 

sense  of  the  words — and  of  intrigue  and  statecraft 
and  diplomacy,  too,  not  always  in  the  best  sense  of 
the  words— which  must  take  its  place  in  the  world's 
history  far  above  the  bloody  pageantry  of  Spanish 
conqueror  in  Mexico  and  Peru.  It  is  the  one  case 
where  Feudalism  played  an  important  and  successful 
r61e  in  America,  only  in  the  end  to  be  driven  from 
the  stage  by  Young  Democracy. 


XXI 


PART  I 

1610-1631 

Being  an  Account  of  the  Discoveries  in  the  Great 
Sea  of  the  North  by  Henry  Hudson  and  the  Dane, 
Jens  Munck.  How  the  Search  for  the  North- West 
Passage  Led  to  the  Opening  of  two  Regions — New 
York  and  the  North-West  Territories. 


THE    CONQUEST    OF 
THE    GREAT    NORTHWEST 

CHAPTER  I 

1607 

HENRY  HUDSON'S   FIRST  VOYAGE 

PRACTICAI^  men  scorn  the  dreamer,  espe- 
cially the  mad-souled  dreamer  who  wrecks 
life  trying  to  prove  his  dream  a  reality.  Yet 
the  mad-souled  dreamer,  the  Poet  of  Action  whose 
poem  has  been  his  life,  the  Hunter  who  has  chased 
the  Idea  down  the  Long  Trail  where  all  tracks  point 
one  way  and  never  return — has  been  a  herald  of 
light  for  humanity. 

Of  no  one  is  this  truer  than  the  English  pilot, 
Henry  Hudson. 

Hudson  did  not  set  out  to  find  the  great  inland 
waters  that  bear  his  name — Hudson  River  and  Hud- 
son Bay.  He  set  out  to  chase  that  rainbow  myth — 
the  Pole — or  rather  the  passage  across  the  Pole.     To 

3 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

him,  as  to  all  Arctic  explorers,  the  call  had  become  a 
sort  of  obsession.  It  was  a  demon,  driving  him  in 
spite  of  himself.  It  was  a  siren  whom  he  could  not 
resist,  luring  him  to  wreck,  which  he  knew  was  cer- 
tain. It  was  a  belief  in  something  which  reason 
couldn't  prove  but  time  has  justified.  It  was  like  a 
scent  taken  up  by  a  hound  on  a  strange  trail.  He 
could  not  know  where  it  would  lead  but  because  of 
Something  in  him  and  Something  on  the  Trail,  he 
was  compelled  to  follow.  Like  the  discoverer  in 
science,  he  could  not  wait  till  his  faith  was  gilt-edged 
with  profit  before  risking  his  all  on  the  venture.  Call 
it  demon  or  destiny!  At  its  voice  he  rose  from  his 
place  and  followed  to  his  death. 

The  situation  was  this: 

Not  a  dozen  boats  had  sailed  beyond  the  Sixtieth 
degree  of  north  latitude.  From  Sixty  to  the  Pole 
was  an  area  as  great  as  Africa.  This  region  was 
absolutely  unknown.  What  did  it  hide?  Was  it 
another  new  world,  or  a  world  of  waters  giving 
access  across  the  Pole  from  Europe  to  Asia?  The 
Muscovy  Company  of  England,  the  East  India  Com- 
pany of  Holland,  both  knew  the  Greenland  of  the 
Danes;  and  sent  their  ships  to  fish  at  Spitzbergen, 
east  of  Gn>cnland.  But  was  Greenland  an  island, 
or  a  great  continent?    Were  Spitzbergen  and  Green- 

4 


Henry  Hudso7is  First  Voyage 

land  parts  of  a  vast  Polar  land?  Did  the  mountains 
wreathed  there  in  eternal  mists  conceal  the  wealth 
of  a  second  Peru?  Below  the  endless  swamps  of 
ice,  would  men  find  gold  sands?  And  when  one  fol- 
lowed up  the  long  coast  of  the  east  shore — as  long  as 
from  Florida  to  Maine — where  the  Danish  colonies 
had  perished  of  cold  centuries  ago — what  beyond? 
A  continent,  or  the  Pole,  or  the  mystic  realm  of  frost 
peopled  by  the  monsters  of  Saga  myth,  where  the 
Goddess  of  Death  held  pitiless  sway  and  the  shores 
were  lined  with  the  dead  who  had  dared  to  invade 
her  realm?  Why  these  questions  should  have 
pierced  the  peace  of  Henry  Hudson,  the  English 
pilot,  and  possessed  him — can  no  more  be  explained 
than  the  Something  on  the  Trail  that  compels  Some- 
thing in  the  hound. 

Like  other  dreamers,  Hudson  had  to  put  his 
dreams  in  harness;  hitch  his  Idea  to  every  day  uses. 
The  Muscovy  Company  trading  to  Russia  wanted  to 
find  a  short  way  across  the  Pole  to  China,  Hudson 
had  worked  up  from  sailor  to  pilot  and  pilot  to  master 
on  the  Dutch  traders,  and  was  commissioned  to  seek 
the  passage.  The  Company  furnished  him  with  a 
crew  of  eleven  including  his  own  boy,  John.  It 
would  be  ridiculous  if  it  were  not  so  pathetic — these 
simple  sailors  undertaking  a  venture  that  has  bafSed 
every  great  navigator  since  time  began. 

5 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Led  by  Hudson  with  the  fire  of  a  great  faith  in  his 
eyes,  the  men  solemnly  marched  to  Saint  Ethelburge 
Church  off  Bishopgate  Street,  London,  to  partake 
of  Holy  Communion  and  ask  God's  aid.  Back  to 
the  muddy  water-front  opposite  the  Tower;  a  gold 
coin  for  last  drinks;  a  hearty  God-speed  from  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Muscovy  Company  pompous  in 
self-importance  and  lace  ruffles — and  the  little  crew 
steps  into  a  clumsy  river  boat  with  brick-red  sails. 
One  gentleman  opines  with  a  pinch  of  snuff  that  it 
may  be  "this  many  a  day  before  Master  Hudson 
returns."  Riffraff  loafers  crane  necks  to  see  to  the 
last.  Cursing  watermen  clear  the  course  by  thump- 
ing other  rivermen  out  of  the  way.  The  boat  slips 
under  the  bridge  down  the  wide  flood  of  the  yeasty 
Thames  through  a  forest  of  masts  and  sails  of  as 
many  colors  as  Joseph's  coat. 

It  is  like  a  great  sewer  of  humanity,  this  river  tide 
with  its  city's  traffic  of  a  thousand  years.  Farmers 
rafting  down  loads  of  hay,  market  women  punting 
themselves  along  with  boat  loads  of  vegetables,  fish- 
ing schooners  breasting  the  tide  with  full-blown  sails, 
high-hulled  galleons  from  Spain,  flat-bottomed, 
rickety  tubs  from  the  Zee,  gay  little  craft— barges  with 
bunting,  wherries  with  lovers,  rowboats  with  nothing 
more  substantial  than  silk  awnings  for  a  sail — jostle 
and  throng  and  bump  each  other  as  Hudson's  crew 

6 


Henry  Hudson's  First  Voyage 

shoots  down  with  the  tide.     Not  a  man  of  the  crew 
but  wonders — is  he  seeing  it  all  for  the  last  time? 

But  here  is  the  Muscovy  Company's  ship  all  newly 
rigged  waiting  at  Gravesend,  absurdly  small  for  such 
a  venture  on  such  a  sea.  Then,  in  the  clanking  of 
anchor  chains  and  sing-song  of  the  capstan  and  last 
shouts  of  the  noisy  rivermen,  apprehensions  are  for- 
gotten. Can  they  but  find  a  short  route  to  China, 
their  homely  little  craft  may  plough  back  with  as 
rich  cargo  as  ever  Spanish  caravel  brought  from 
the  fabulous  South  Sea.  The  full  tide  heaves  and 
rocks  and  bears  out ;  a  mad-souled  dreamer  standing 
at  the  prow  with  his  little  son,  who  is  very  silent. 
The  air  is  fraught  with  something  too  big  for  words. 
May  first,  1607,  Hudson  is  off  for  the  Pole.  He 
might  as  well  have  been  following  the  Flying  Dutch- 
man, or  ballooning  to  the  moon. 

The  city  along  the  banks  of  the  Thames  has 
presently  thinned  to  towns.  The  towns  slide  past 
into  villages.  The  villages  blur  into  meadow  lands 
with  the  thatch  roof  of  the  farmer's  cot;  and  before 
night,  the  last  harbor  light  has  been  left  in  the  offing. 
The  little  ship  has  headed  her  carved  prow  north. 
The  billows  of  the  North  Sea  roll  to  meet  her.  Dark- 
ness falls  with  no  sound  but  the  swish  of  the  waters 
against  the  ports,  the  hum  of  the  wind  through  the 

7 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


rigging,   and   the  whirring  flap  of  the  great  sails 
shifting  to  catch  the  breeze. 

For  six  weeks,  north,  north-west,  they  drove  over 
the  tumbling  world  of  waters,  sliding  from  crest  to 
trough,  from  blue  hollow  to  curdling  wave-top,  plough- 
ing a  watery  furrow  into  the  region  of  long,  white 
light  and  shortening  nights,  and  fogs  that  lay  without 
lifting  once  in  twenty  days.  The  farther  north  they 
sailed,  the  tighter  drew  the  cords  of  cold,  like  a  violin 
string  stretched  till  it  fairly  snapped— air  full  of  pure 
ozone  that  set  the  blood  jumping  and  finger-tips 
tingling!  Green  spray  froze  the  sails  stiff  as  boards. 
The  rigging  became  ropes  of  ice,  the  ship  a  ghost 
gHding  white  through  the  fogs.  At  last  came  a 
squall  that  rolled  the  mists  up  like  a  scroll,  and 
straight  ahead,  high  and  lonely  as  cloud-banks, 
towered  the  white  peaks  of  Greenland's  mountains. 
Though  it  was  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  it  was 
broad  daylight,  and  the  whole  crew  came  scrambling 
up  the  hatches  to  the  shout  of  "Land!"  Hudson 
enthusiastically  named  the  mountain  "God's  Mercy" ; 
but  the  lift  of  mist  uncurtained  to  the  astonished 
gaze  of  the  English  sailors  a  greater  wonder  than  the 
mountains.  North,  south,  east,  west,  the  ship  was 
embayed  in  an  ice-world — ice  in  islands  and  hills  and 
valleys  with  lakes  and  rivers  of  fresh  water  flowing 
over  the  surface.     Birds  flocked  overhead  with  lonely 

8 


Henry  Hudson's  First  Voyage 

screams  at  these  human  intruders  on  a  realm  as 
white  and  silent  as  death ;  and  where  one  crystal  berg 
was  lighted  to  gold  by  the  sun,  a  huge  polar  bear 
hulked  to  its  highest  peak  and  surveyed  the  new- 
comers in  as  much  astonishment  at  them  as  they  felt 
at  him.  Truly,  this  was  the  Ultima  Thule  of  poet's 
dream — beyond  the  footsteps  of  man.  Blue  was  the 
sky  above,  blue  the  patches  of  ocean  below,  blue  the 
illimitable  fields  of  ice,  blue  and  lifeless  and  cold  as 
steel.  The  men  passed  that  day  jubilant  as  boys 
out  of  school.  Some  went  gunning  for  the  birds. 
Others  would  have  pursued  the  polar  bear  but  with 
a  splash  the  great  creature  dived  into  the  sea.  The 
crew  took  advantage  of  the  pools  of  fresh  water  in 
the  ice  to  fill  their  casks  with  drinking  water.  For 
the  next  twenty-four  hours,  Hudson  crept  among  the 
ice  floes  by  throwing  out  a  hook  on  the  ice,  then 
hauling  up  to  it  by  cable. 

By  night  the  sea  was  churning  the  ice  in  choppy 
waves,  with  a  growl  of  wind  through  the  mast,  and 
the  crew  wakened  the  next  morning  to  find  a  hurri- 
cane of  sleet  had  wiped  out  the  land.  The  huge 
floes  were  turning  somersets  in  the  rough  sea  with  a 
banging  that  threatened  to  smash  the  little  ship  into 
a  crushed  egg  shell.  Under  bare  poles,  she  drove 
before  the  wind  for  open  sea. 

As  she  scudded  from  the  crush  of  the  tumbling 

9 


The  Conquesi  of  the  Great  Northwest 

ice,  Hudson  remarked  something  extraordinary  in 
the  conduct  of  his  ship.  Veering  about,  sails  down, 
there  was  no  mistaking  it — she  was  drifting  against 
the  wind!  As  the  storm  subsided,  it  became  plainer: 
the  wind  was  carrying  in  one  direction,  the  sea  was 
carrying  in  another.  Hudson  had  discovered  that 
current  across  the  Pole,  which  was  to  play  such  an 
important  part  with  Nansen  three  hundred  years 
later.  Icebergs  were  floating  against  the  wind,  too, 
laboriously,  with  apparently  aimless  circlings  round 
and  round,  but  circles  that  carried  them  forward 
against  the  wind,  and  the  ship  was  presently  moored 
to  a  great  icepan  drifting  along  with  the  undertow. 

Then  the  curse  of  all  Arctic  voyagers  fell  on  the 
sea — fog  thick  to  the  touch  as  wool,  through  which 
the  icebergs  glided  like  phantoms  with  a  great  crash 
of  waters,  where  the  surf  beat  on  the  floes.  Never 
mind!  Their  anchor- hold  acts  as  a  breakwater. 
They  are  sheltered  from  the  turmoil  of  the  waves 
outside  the  ice.  And  they  are  still  headed  north. 
And  they  are  up  to  Seventy-three  along  a  coast,  which 
no  chart  has  ever  before  recorded,  no  chart  but  the 
myths  of  death's  realm.  As  the  coast  might  prove 
treacherous  if  the  ice  began  thumping  inland,  Hud- 
son names  the  region  "Hold  Hope,"  which  may  be 
interpreted,  "Keep  up  your  Courage." 

Ice  and  fog,  fog  and  ice,  and  the  eternal  silences 

lO 


Prince  Rupert,  from  a  Photograph  in  the  Ottawa  Archives,  after 
Painting  by  Vandyke. 


Henry  Hudson's  First  Voyage 

but  for  the  thunder  of  the  floes  banging  the  ports; 
up  to  Seventy-five  by  noon  of  June  25,  when  the 
sailors  notice  that  the  floundering  clumsy  grampus 
are  playing  mad  pranks  about  the  ship.  The  glisten- 
ing brown  backs  race  round  the  prow  and  somerset 
bodily  out  of  the  water  in  a  very  deviltry  of  sauciness ! 
Call  it  sailors'  superstition,  but  when  the  grampus 
schools  play,  your  Northern  crew  looks  for  storm,  and 
by  noon  of  June  26,  the  storm  is  there  pounding  the 
hull  like  thunder  and  shrieking  through  the  rigging. 
Not  a  good  place  to  be,  between  land  and  ice  in  hurri- 
cane! Hudson  scampers  for  the  sea,  still  north, 
but  driven  out  east  by  the  trend  of  Greenland's 
coast  along  an  unbroken  barrier  of  ice  that  seems  to 
link  Greenland  to  Spitzbergen. 

No  passage  across  the  Pole  this  way!  That  is 
certain!  But  there  is  a  current  across  the  Pole! 
That,  too,  is  certain !  And  Greenland  is  as  long  as  a 
continent.  So  driving  before  the  storm,  Hudson 
steers  east  for  Spitzbergen.  In  July,  it  is  warmer, 
but  heat  brings  more  ice,  and  the  man  at  the  mast- 
head on  the  lookout  for  land  up  at  Seventy-nine 
could  not  know  that  a  submerged  iceberg  was  going 
to  turn  a  somerset  directly  under  the  keel.  There 
was  a  splintering  crash.  Something  struck  the  keel 
like  a  cannon  shot.  Up  reared  the  little  boat  on  end 
like  a  frightened  horse.     When  the  waters  plunged 

II 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

down  two  great  bergs  had  risen  one  on  each  side 
of  the  quivering  ship  and  a  jagged  gash  gaped  through 
the  timbers  at  water  Hne.  Water  slushed  over  decks 
in  a  cataract.  The  yardarms  are  still  dipping  and 
dripping  to  the  churning  seas  when  the  crew  leaps 
out  to  a  man,  some  on  the  ice,  some  in  small  boats, 
some  astraddle  of  driftwood  to  stop  the  leak  in  the 
bottom.  As  they  toil — and  they  toil  in  desperation, 
for  the  safety  of  the  ship  is  their  only  possibility  of 
reaching  home — they  notice  it  again — wood  drifting 
against  the  wind,  the  undertow  of  some  great  un- 
known Polar  Current. 

Hudson  cannot  wait  for  this  current  to  carry  him 
toward  the  Pole,  as  Nansen  did.  Up  he  tacks  to 
Eighty-two,  within  eight  degrees  of  the  baffling  Pole, 
within  four  degrees  of  Farthest  North  reached  by 
modern  navigators.  When  he  finds  Spitzbergen 
locked  by  the  ice  to  the  north,  he  tries  it  by  the  south. 
But  the  ice  seems  to  become  almost  a  living  enemy 
in  its  resistance.  Hudson  had  anchored  to  a  drifting 
floe.  Another  icepan  shut  off  his  retreat.  Then  a 
terrific  sea  began  running — the  effect  of  the  ice  jam 
against  the  Polar  Current.  The  fog  was  so  thick 
you  could  cut  it  with  a  knife.  Not  a  breath  of  wind 
stirred.  Sails  hung  limp,  and  the  sea  was  driving 
the  ship  to  instant  destruction  against  a  jam  of  ice. 
Heaving  out  small  boats,  the  crew  rowed  for  dear 

12 


Henry  Hudson's  First  Voyage 

life  towing  the  ship  out  of  the  maelstrom  by  main 
force,  but  their  puny  human  strength  was  as  child's 
play  against  the  great  powers  of  the  elements.  Back- 
wash had  carried  rowers  and  ship  and  small  boats 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  ramming  icebergs 
when  a  faint  air  breathed  through  the  fog.  Moisten- 
ing their  fingers,  the  sailors  held  up  hands  to  catch 
the  motion  of  any  breeze.  No  mistake — it  was  a 
fair  wind — right  about  sails  there — the  little  ship 
turned  tail  to  the  ice  and  was  off  like  a  bird,  for  says 
the  old  ship's  log:  "z7  pleased  God  to  give  us  a  gale, 
and  away  we  steered^ 

The  battle  for  a  passage  seemed  hopeless.  Hud- 
son assembled  the  crew  on  decks  and  on  bended 
knees  prayed  God  to  show  which  way  to  steer.  Of 
no  region  had  the  sailors  of  that  day  greater  horror 
than  Spitzbergen.  They  began  to  recall  the  fearful 
disasters  that  had  befallen  Dutch  ships  here  but  a 
few  years  before.  Those  old  sailors'  superstitions  of 
the  North  being  the  realm  of  the  Goddess  of  Death, 
came  back  to  memory.  That  last  narrow  escape 
from  the  ice-crush  left  terror  in  the  very  marrow  of 
their  bones.  In  vain,  Hudson  once  more  suggested 
seeking  the  passage  by  Greenland.  To  the  crew, 
the  Voice  of  the  North  uttered  no  call.  Glory  was 
all  very  well,  but  they  didn't  want  glory.  They 
wanted  to  go  home.    What  was  the  good  of  chasing 

13 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

an  Idea  down  the  Long  Trail  to  a  grave  on  the  frozen 
shores  of  Death? 

When  men  begin  to  reason  that  way,  there  is  no 
answer.  You  can't  promise  them  what  you  are  not 
sure  you  will  ever  find.  The  Call  is  only  to  those 
who  have  ears  to  hear.  You  must  have  hold  of  the 
end  of  a  Golden  Thread  before  you  can  follow  the 
baffling  mazes  of  a  discoverer's  faith,  and  these  men 
hadn't  faith  in  anything  except  a  full  stomach  and 
a  sure  wage.  After  all,  their  arguments  were  the 
same  as  the  obstructions  presented  against  every 
expedition  to  the  Pole  to-day,  or  for  that  matter,  to 
any  other  realm  of  the  Unknown.  It  was  like  asking 
the  inventor  to  show  his  invention  in  full  work  before 
he  has  made  it,  or  the  bank  to  pay  its  dividends 
before  you  contribute  to  its  capital.  What  reason 
could  Hudson  give  to  justify  his  faith?  Standing  on 
the  quarter  deck  with  clenched  fists  and  troubled 
face,  he  might  as  well  have  argued  with  stones,  or 
pleaded  for  a  chance  with  modern  money  bags  as 
talked  down  the  expostulations  of  the  mutineers. 
They  were  men  of  the  kidney  who  will  always  be  on 
the  safe  side.  As  the  world  knows — there  was  no 
passage  across  the  Pole  suitable  for  commerce.  There 
was  no  justification  for  Hudson's  faith.  Yet  it  was 
the  goal  of  that  faith,  which  led  him  on  the  road  to 

14 


Henry  Hudson's  First  Voyage 

greater  discoveries  than  a  dozen  passages  across  the 
Pole. 

Faith  has  always  been  represented  as  one  of  three 
sister  graces;  cringing,  meek-spirited,  downtrodden 
damsels  at  their  best.  In  view  of  all  she  has  accom- 
plished for  the  world  in  religion,  in  art,  in  science,  in 
discovery,  in  commerce,  Faith  should  be  represented 
as  a  fiery-eyed  goddess  with  the  forked  lightnings  for 
her  torch,  treading  the  mountain  peaks  of  the  uni- 
verse. From  her  high  place,  she  alone  can  see 
whence  comes  the  light  and  which  way  runs  the 
Trail.  Step  by  step,  the  battle  has  been  against  dark- 
ness, every  step  a  blow,  every  blow  a  bruise  driving 
back  to  the  right  Trail;  every  blood  mark  a  mile- 
stone in  human  progress  from  lowland  to  upland. 

But  Hudson's  men  were  obdurate  to  arguments 
all  up  in  air.  They  will  not  seek  the  passage  by 
Greenland.  Hudson  must  turn  back.  To  a  great 
spirit,  obstructions  are  never  a  stop.  They  are  only 
a  delay.  Hudson  sets  his  teeth.  You  will  see  him 
go  by  Greenland  one  day  yet — mark  his  word! 
Meantime,  home  he  sails  through  what  he  calls 
"slabbie"  weather,  putting  into  Tilbury  Docks  on 
the  15th  of  September.  If  money  bags  counted  up 
the  profits  of  that  year's  trip,  they  would  write  against 
Hudson's  name  in  the  Book  of  Judgment — Failure! 

15 


CHAPTER  II 

1608 

Hudson's  second  voyage 

HENCEFORTH  Hudson  was  an  obsessed 
man.  First,  he  possessed  the  Idea.  Now 
the  Idea  possessed  him.  It  was  to  lead 
him  on  a  course  no  man  would  willingly  have  fol- 
lowed. Yet  he  followed  it.  Everything,  life  or 
death,  love  or  hate,  gain  or  loss,  was  to  be  subservient 
to  that  Idea. 

That  current  drifting  across  the  Pole  haunted  him 
as  it  was  to  haunt  Nansen  at  a  later  date.  By  at- 
tempting too  much,  had  he  missed  all?  He  had  gone 
to  Spitzbergen  in  the  Eighties.  If  he  had  kept  down 
to  Nova  Zembla  Islands  in  the  Seventies,  would  he 
have  found  less  ice?  The  man  possessed  by  a  single 
idea  may  be  a  trial  to  his  associates.  To  himself, 
he  is  a  torment.  Once  he  becomes  baffled,  he  is 
beset  by  doubts,  by  questions,  by  fears.  If  his  faith 
leaves  him,  his  life  goes  to  pieces  like  a  rope  of  sand. 
Hudson  must  have  been  beset  by  such  doubts  now. 
It  is  the  place  where  the  adventurer  leaves  the  mile- 

16 


Hudson's  Second  Voyage 


stones  of  all  known  paths  and  has  not  yet  found  firm 
footing  for  his  own  feet.  Hundreds,  thousands,  have 
struck  out  from  the  beaten  Trail.  Few,  indeed, 
have  blazed  a  new  path.  The  bones  of  the  dead 
bleach  on  the  shores  of  the  realm  ruled  by  the  God- 
dess of  the  Unknown.  It  is  the  place  where  the  be- 
ginner sets  out  to  be  a  great  artist,  or  a  great  scien- 
tist, or  a  great  discoverer.  Thousands  have  set  out 
on  the  same  quest  who  should  have  rested  content 
at  their  own  ingle-nook,  happy  at  the  plow;  not 
good  plowmen  spoiled.  The  beginner  balances  the 
chances — a  thousand  to  one  against  him!  Is  his 
vision  a  fool's  quest,  a  will-o'-the-wisp?  Is  the  call 
the  tickling  of  his  own  restless  vanity;  or  the  voice 
of  a  great  truth?  He  can  learn  only  by  going  for- 
ward, and  the  going  forward  may  take  him  over  a 
precipice — may  prove  him  a  fool.  This  was  the  place 
Hudson  was  at  now.  It  is  a  place  that  has  been 
passed  by  all  the  world's  great. 

Nine  Dutch  boats  had  at  different  times  passed 
between  Nova  Zembla  and  the  main  coast  of  Russia. 
To  be  sure,  they  had  been  blocked  by  the  ice  beyond, 
but  might  not  Hudson  by  some  lucky  chance  follow 
that  Polar  Current  through  open  water?  The 
chances  were  a  thousand  to  one  against  him.  Who 
but  a  fool  would  take  the  chance?  Nansen's  daring 
plan  to  utilize  the  ice-drift  to  lift  his  ship  above  the 

17 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


ice-crush — did  not  occur  to  Hudson.  Except  for 
that  difference,  the  two  explorers— the  greatest  of 
the  early  Arctic  navigators  and  the  greatest  of  the 
modern — planned  very  much  the  same  course. 

This  time,  the  Muscovy  Company  commissioned 
Hudson  to  look  out  for  ivory  hunting  as  well  as  the 
short  passage  to  Asia.  Three  men  only  of  the  old 
crew  enlisted.  Hudson  might  enjoy  risking  his  life 
for  glory.  Most  mortals  prefer  safety.  Of  the 
three  who  re-enlisted  one  was  his  son. 

Keeping  close  to  the  cloud-capped,  mountainous 
shores  of  Norway,  the  boat  sighted  Cape  North  on 
June  3,  1608.  Clouds  wreathed  the  mountains  in 
belts  and  plumes  of  mist.  Snow-fields  of  far  sum- 
mits shone  gold  in  sudden  bursts  of  sunshine  through 
the  cloud-wrack.  Fjords  like  holes  in  the  wall 
nestled  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  the  hamlets  of 
the  fisher  folk  like  tiny  match  boxes  against  the 
mighty  hills.  To  the  restless  tide  rocked  and  heaved 
the  fishing  smacks — emblems  of  man's  spirit  at  end- 
less wresde  with  the  elements.  As  Hudson's  ship 
climbed  the  waves,  the  fishermen  stood  up  in  their 
little  boats  to  wave  a  God -speed  to  these  adven- 
turers bound  for  earth's  ends.  Sails  swelling  to  the 
wind,  Hudson's  vessel  rode  the  roll  of  green  waters, 
then  dipped  behind  a  cataract  of  waves,  and  dropped 
over  the  edge  of  the  known  world. 

18 


Hudson's  Second  Voyage 


Driftwood  again  on  that  Polar  Current  up  at 
Seventy  -  five,  driftwood  and  the  endless  sweep  of 
moving  ice,  which  compelled  Hudson  ''/o  loose  jrotn 
one  /?oe"  and  "bear  room  from  another"  and  anchor 
on  the  lee  of  one  berg  to  prevent  ramming  by  an- 
other; "divers  pieces  driving  past  the  ship,"  says 
Hudson — just  as  it  drove  past  Nansen's  Fram  on  the 
same  course. 

To  men  satiated  of  modern  life,  the  North  is  still 
a  wonder-world.  There  are  the  white  silences  pri- 
meval as  the  morn  when  God  first  created  Time. 
There  is  "the  sun  sailing  round  in  a  fiery  ring" — as 
one  old  Viking  described  it — instead  of  sinking  below 
the  horizon;  nightless  days  in  summer  and  dayless 
nights  in  winter.  There  is  the  desolation  of  earth's 
places  where  man  may  never  have  dominion  and 
Death  must  always  veil  herself  unseen.  Polar  bears 
floundered  over  the  ice  hunting  seals.  Walrus 
roared  from  the  rocks  in  herds  till  the  surf  shook — 
ivory  for  the  Muscovy  Company ;  and  whales  floated 
about  the  ship  in  schools  that  threatened  to  keel  the 
craft  over — more  profit  for  the  Muscovy  traders. 

What  wonder  that  Hudson's  ignorant  sailors  began 
to  feel  the  marvel  of  the  strange  ice-world,  and  to  see 
fabulous  things  in  the  light  of  the  midnight  sun? 
One  morning  a  face  was  seen  following  the  ship, 
staring  up  from  the  sea.    There  was  no  doubt  of  it. 

19 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Two  sailors  saw  it.  Was  it  one  of  the  monsters  of 
Saga  myth,  that  haunted  this  region?  The  watch 
called  a  comrade.  Both  witnessed  the  hideous  ap- 
parition of  a  human  face  with  black  hair  streaming 
behind  on  the  waves.  The  body  was  like  a  woman's 
and  the  seamen's  terror  had  conjured  up  the  ill  omen 
of  a  mermaid  when  wave-wash  overturned  its  body, 
exhibiting  the  fins  and  tail  of  a  porpoise — "skin  very 
white" — mermaid  without  a  doubt,  portent  of  evil, 
though  the  hair  may  have  been  floating  seaweed. 

Sure  enough,  within  a  week,  ice  locked  round  the 
ship  in  a  vise.  The  floes  were  no  brashy  ice-cakes 
that  could  be  plowed  through  by  a  ship's  prow  with 
a  strong,  stern  wind.  They  were  huge  fields  of  ice, 
five,  ten,  twenty  and  thirty  feet  deep  interspread 
with  hummocks  and  hillocks  that  were  miniature 
bergs  in  themselves.  Across  these  rolling  meadows 
of  crystal,  the  wind  blew  with  the  nip  of  midwinter; 
but  when  the  sun  became  partly  hidden  in  fiery  cloud- 
banks,  the  scene  was  a  fairy  land,  sea  and  sky  shad- 
ing off  in  deepest  tinges  to  all  the  tints  of  the  rain- 
bow. Where  the  ocean  showed  through  ice  depths, 
there  was  a  blue  reflection  deep  as  indigo.  Where 
the  clear  water  was  only  a  surface  pool  on  top  of 
submerged  ice,  the  sky  shone  above  with  a  light 
green  delicate  as  apple  bloom.  Where  the  ice  was 
a  broken  mass  of  an  adjacent  glacier  sliding  down 

20 


Hudson's  Second  Voyage 


to  the  sea  through  the  eternal  snows  of  some 
mountain  gorge,  a  curious  phenomenon  could  some- 
times be  observed.  The  edge  of  the  ice  was  in  layers 
— each  layer  representing  one  year's  snowfall  coPx- 
gealed  by  the  summer  thaw,  so  that  the  observer 
could  count  back  perhaps  a  century  from  the  ice 
layers.  Other  men  tread  on  snow  that  fell  but  yes- 
terday. Hudson's  crew  were  treading  on  the  snow- 
fall of  a  hundred  years  as  though  this  were  God's 
workshop  in  the  making  and  a  hundred  years  were 
but  as  a  day. 

Beyond  the  floating  ice  fields,  the  heights  of  Nova 
Zembla  were  sighted,  awesome  and  lonely  in  the 
white  night,  gruesome  to  these  men  from  memory 
of  the  fate  that  befell  the  Dutch  crews  here  fifteen 
years  previously.  Rowing  and  punting  through  the 
ice-brash,  two  men  went  ashore  to  explore.  They 
saw  abundance  of  game  for  the  Muscovy  gentlemen ; 
and  at  one  place  among  driftwood  came  on  the  cold 
ashes  of  an  old  fire.  It  was  like  the  first  print  of 
man's  footstep  found  by  Robinson  Crusoe.  Startled 
by  signs  of  human  presence,  they  scanned  the  sur- 
rounding landscape.  On  the  shore,  a  solitary  cross 
had  been  erected  of  driftwood.  Then  the  men  re- 
called the  fate  of  the  Dutch  crew,  that  had  perished 
wandering  over  these  islands  in  1597.  What  fearful 
battles   had   the  white  silences  witnessed  between 

21 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  X art h west 

puny  men  explorers  and  the  stony  Goddess  of  Death? 
What  had  become  of  the  last  man,  of  the  man  who 
had  erected  the  cross?  Did  his  body  lie  somewhere 
along  the  shores  of  Nova  Zembla,  or  had  he  manned 
his  little  craft  like  the  Vikings  of  old  and  sailed  out 
lashed  to  the  spars  to  meet  death  in  tempest?  The 
horror  of  the  North  seemed  to  touch  the  men  as  with 
the  hands  of  the  dead  whom  she  had  slain. 

The  report  that  the  two  men  carried  back  to  Hud- 
son's boat  did  not  raise  the  spirits  of  the  crew.  One 
night  the  entire  ship's  company  but  Hudson  and 
his  son  had  gone  ashore  to  hunt  walrus.  Such 
illimitable  fields  of  ice  lay  north  that  Hudson  knew 
his  only  chance  must  be  between  the  south  end  of 
Nova  Zembla  (he  did  not  know  there  were  several 
islands  in  the  group)  and  the  main  coast  of  Asia.  It 
was  three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  ice  began  to 
drive  landward  with  the  fury  of  a  whirlpool.  Two 
anchors  were  thrown  out  against  the  tide.  Fenders 
were  lowered  to  protect  the  ship's  sides.  Captain 
and  boy  stood  with  iron-shod  poles  in  hand  to  push 
the  ice  from  the  ship,  or  the  ship  from  the  ice.  The 
men  from  the  hunt  saw  the  coming  danger  and 
rushed  over  the  churning  icepans  to  the  rescue. 
Some  on  the  ice,  some  on  the  ship,  with  poles  and 
oars  and  crowbars,  they  pushed  and  heaved  away 
the   icepans,  and    ramming    their    crowbars  down 


Hudson's  Second  Voyage 


crevices  wrenched  the  ice  to  splinters  or  swerved  it 
off  the  sides  of  the  ship.  Sometimes  an  icepan 
would  tilt,  teeter,  rise  on  end  and  turn  a  somerset, 
plunging  the  sailors  in  ice  water  to  their  arm  pits. 
The  jam  seemed  to  be  coming  on  the  ship  from  both 
directions  at  once,  for  the  simple  reason  the  ship 
offered  the  line  of  least  resistance.  Twelve  hours 
the  battle  lasted,  the  heaving  ice-crush  threatening 
to  crush  the  ship's  ribs  like  slats  till  at  last  a  channel 
of  open  water  appeared  just  outside  the  ship's  prison. 
But  the  air  was  a  dead  calm.  Springing  from  ice- 
pan  to  icepan,  the  men  towed  their  ship  out  of  danger. 
Rain  began  to  drizzle.  The  next  day  a  cold  wind 
came  whistling  through  the  rigging.  The  ship  lay 
in  a  land-locked  cove  of  Nova  Zcmbla.  Hudson 
again  sent  his  men  ashore  to  hunt,  probably  also  to 
pluck  up  courage.  Then  he  climbed  the  lookout 
to  scan  the  sea.  It  was  really  to  scan  his  own  fate. 
It  was  the  old  story  of  the  glory-seeker's  quest — a 
harder  battle  than  human  power  could  wage;  a 
struggle  that  at  the  last  only  led  to  a  hopeless  impasse. 
The  scent  on  the  Trail  and  the  eagerness  in  the 
hound  leading  only  to  a  blind  alley  of  baffled  effort 
and  ruin!  Every  great  benefactor  of  humanity  has 
come  to  this  ctd  de  sac  of  hope.  It  is  as  if  a  man's 
highest  aim  were  only  in  the  end  a  sort  of  trap 
whither  some  impish  will-o'-the-wisp  has  impelled 

23 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

him.  The  thing  itself— a  passage  across  the  Pole — 
didn't  exist  any  more  than  the  elixir  of  life  which  laid 
the  foundations  of  chemistry.  The  question  is  how, 
when  the  great  men  of  humanity  come  to  this  blind 
wall,  did  they  ever  have  courage  to  go  on?  For  the 
thing  they  pursued  was  a  phantom  never  to  be  real- 
ized; but  strangely  enough,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  the  phantom  pursuit  led  to  greater  benefits  for 
the  race  than  their  highest  hopes  dared  to  dream. 

No  elixir  of  life,  you  dreamer;  but  your  mad- 
brained  search  for  the  elixir  gave  us  the  secrets  of 
chemistry  by  which  man  prolongs  life  if  he  doesn't 
preserve  eternal  youth !  No  fate  written  on  the  scroll 
of  the  heavens,  you  star-gazer;  but  your  fool-astrol- 
ogy has  given  us  astronomy,  by  which  man  may  pre- 
dict the  movements  of  the  stars  for  a  thousand  years 
though  he  cannot  forsee  his  own  fate  for  a  day!  No 
North-West  Passage  to  Asia,  you  fevered  adven- 
turers of  the  trackless  sea;  but  your  search  for  a 
short  way  to  China  has  given  us  a  New  World  worth 
a  thousand  Chinas!  Go  on  with  your  dreams,  you 
mad-souled  visionaries!  If  it  is  a  will-o'-the  wisp 
you  chase,  your  will-o'-the-wisp  is  a  lantern  to  the 
rest  of  humanity! 

Climbing  the  rigging  to  the  topmast  yardarm, 
Hudson    scanned    the   sea.     His   heart   sank.     His 

24 


Hudson's  Second  Voyage 


hopes  seemed  to  congeal  like  the  eternal  ice  of  this 
ice-world.  The  springs  of  life  seemed  to  grow  both 
heavy  and  cold.  Far  as  eye  could  reach  was  ice — 
only  ice,  while  outside  the  cove  there  raged  a  tempest 
as  if  all  the  demons  of  the  North  were  blowing  their 
trumpets. 

"There  is  no  passage  this  way,"  said  Hudson  to  his 
son.  Then  as  if  hope  only  dies  that  it  may  send 
forth  fresh  growth  like  the  seed,  he  added,  "But  we 
must  try  Greenland  again,  on  the  west  side  this 
time."  It  was  ten  o'clock  at  night  when  the  men  re- 
turned laden  with  game;  but  they,  too,  had  taken' 
counsel  among  themselves  whether  to  go  forward; 
and  the  memory  of  that  dead  crew's  cross  turned  the 
scales  against  Hudson.  It  was  only  the  5th  of  July, 
but  they  would  not  hear  of  attempting  Greenland 
this  season.  From  midnight  of  the  5th  to  nine  o'clock 
of  the  6th,  Hudson  pondered.  No  gap  opened  through 
the  white  wall  ahead.  The  Frost  Giants,  whose 
gambols  may  be  heard  on  the  long  winter  nights  when 
the  icecracks  whoop  and  romp,  had  won  against 
Man.  ^^ Being  void  of  hope,^'  Hudson  records,  '^the 
wind  stormy  and  against  us,  much  ice  driving,  we 
weighed  and  set  sail  westward.''^  Home-bound,  the 
ship  anchored  on  the  Thames,  August  26. 


25 


CHAPTER  III 

1609 

Hudson's  third  voyage 

"W  "X"  THILE  Hudson  was  pursuing  his  phantom 
\/V/  across  Polar  seas,  Europe  had  at  last 
awakened  to  the  secret  of  Spain's  great- 
ness— colonial  wealth  that  poured  the  gold  of  Peru 
into  her  treasury.  To  counteract  Spain,  colonizing 
became  the  master  policy  of  Europe.  France  was  at 
work  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  England  was  settling 
Virginia,  and  Smith,  the  pioneer  of  Virginia,  who 
was  Hudson's  personal  friend,  had  explored  the 
Chesapeake. 

But  the  Netherlands  went  a  step  farther.  To 
throw  off  the  yoke  of  Spain,  they  maintained  a  fleet 
of  seventy  merchantmen  furnished  as  ships  of  war 
to  wage  battle  on  the  high  seas.  Spanish  colonies 
were  to  be  attacked  wherever  found.  Spanish  cities 
were  to  be  sacked  as  the  buccaneers  sacked  them  on 
the  South  Sea.  Spanish  caravels  with  cargoes  of 
gold  were  to  be  scuttled  and  sunk  wherever  met.  It 
was  to  be  brigandage — brigandage  pure  and  simple 

26 


James  II,  Duke  of  York,  Second  Governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 

Company. 


Hudsori's  Third  Voyage 


— from  the  Zuider  Zee  to  Panama,  from  the  North 
Pole  to  the  South. 

Hudson's  voyages  for  the  Muscovy  merchants  of 
London  to  find  a  short  way  to  Asia  at  once  arrested 
the  attention  of  the  Dutch,  Dutch  and  English 
vied  with  each  other  for  the  discovery  of  that  short 
road  to  the  Orient.  For  a  century  the  chance  en- 
counter of  Dutch  and  English  sailors  on  Arctic  seas 
had  been  the  signal  for  the  instant  breaking  of  heads. 
Not  whales  but  men  were  harpooned  when  Dutch 
and  English  fishermen  met  off  Nova  Zembla,  or 
Spitzbergen,  or  the  North  Cape. 

Hudson  was  no  sooner  home  from  his  second 
voyage  for  the  English  than  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company  invited  him  to  Holland  to  seek  passage 
across  the  Pole  for  them.  This — it  should  be  ex- 
plained— is  the  only  justification  that  exists  for  writ- 
ing the  English  pilot's  name  as  Hendrick  instead  of 
Henry,  as  though  employment  by  the  Dutch  changed 
the  Englishman's  nationality. 

The  invitation  was  Hudson's  salvation.  Just  at 
the  moment  when  all  doors  were  shut  against  him  in 
England  and  when  his  hopes  were  utterly  baffled  by 
two  failures — another  door  opened.  Just  at  the  mo- 
ment when  his  own  thoughts  were  turning  toward 
America  as  the  solution  of  the  North- West  Passage, 
the  chance  came  to  seek  the  passage  in  America. 

27 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Great  Northwest 

Just  when  Hudson  was  at  the  point  where  he  might 
have  abandoned  his  will-o'-the-wisp,  it  lighted  him 
to  a  fresh  pursuit  on  a  new  Trail.  It  is  such  coin- 
cidences as  these  in  human  life  that  cause  the  poet 
to  sing  of  Destiny. 

But  the  chanciness  of  human  fortune  did  not  cease 
because  of  this  stroke  of  good  luck.  The  great  mer- 
chants of  the  Netherlands  heard  his  plans.  His 
former  failures  were  against  him.  Money  bags  do 
not  care  to  back  an  uncertainty.  Having  paid  his 
expenses  to  come  to  Holland,  the  merchant  princes 
were  disposed  to  let  him  cool  his  heels  in  the  outer 
halls  waiting  their  pleasure.  The  chances  are  they 
would  have  rejected  his  overtures  altogether  if  France 
and  Belgium  had  not  at  that  time  begun  to  consider 
the  employment  of  Hudson  on  voyages  of  discovery. 
The  Amsterdam  merchants  of  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company  suddenly  awakened  to  the  fact  that  they 
wanted  Hudson,  and  wanted  him  at  once.  Again 
Destiny,  or  a  will-o'-the-wisp  as  impish  as  Puck — 
had  befriended  him. 

At  Amsterdam,  he  was  furnished  with  two  vessels, 
the  Good  Hope  as  an  escort  part  way;  the  Half  Moon 
for  the  voyage  itself — a  flat-bottomed,  tub-like  yacht 
such  as  plied  the  shallows  of  Holland.  *  In  his  crew, 
he  was  unfortunate.  The  East  India  Company,  of 
course,  supplied  him  with  the  sailors  of  their  own 

28 


Hudson's  Third  Voyage 


boats — lawless  lascars;  turbaned  Asiatics  with 
stealthy  tread  and  velvet  voices  and  a  dirk  hidden  in 
their  girdles;  gypsy  nondescripts  with  the  hot  blood 
of  the  hot  tropics  and  the  lawless  instincts  of  birds 
of  plunder.  Your  crew  trained  to  cut  the  Spaniard's 
throat  may  acquire  the  habit  and  cut  the  master's 
throat,  too.  Along  with  these  sailors,  Hudson  in- 
sisted on  having  a  few  Englishmen  from  his  former 
crews,  among  whom  were  Colman  and  Juet  and  his 
own  son.  Juet  acted  as  astronomer  and  keeper  of 
the  ship's  log.  From  Juet  and  Van  Meteren,  the 
Dutch  consul  in  England  in  whose  hands  Hudson's 
manuscripts  finally  fell — are  drawn  all  the  facts  of 
the  voyage. 

On  March  25  (April  6,  new  style),  1609,  the  cum- 
bersome crafts  swung  out  on  the  hazy  yellow  of  the 
Zuider  Zee.  Mother  ships  were  about  Hudson,  here, 
than  on  the  Thames,  for  the  Dutch  had  an  enormous 
commerce  with  the  East  and  the  West  Indies.  Fe- 
luccas with  lateen  sails  and  galleys  for  oarsmen  had 
come  up  from  the  Mediterranean.  Dutch  pirates 
of  the  Barbary  Coast — narrow  in  the  prow,  narrow 
in  the  keel,  built  for  swift  sailing  and  light  cargoes — 
had  forgathered,  sporting  sails  of  a  different  design 
for  every  harbor.  Then,  there  were  the  East  India- 
men,  ponderous,  slow-moving,  deep  and  broad,  with 
cannon  bristling  through  the  ports  like  men-of-war, 

29 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  N orthwest 

and  tawny  Asiatic  faces  leering  over  the  taffrail. 
Yawls  from  the  low-lying  coast,  three-masted  lug- 
gers from  Denmark,  Norwegian  ships  with  hideous 
scaled  griffins  carved  on  the  sharp-curved  prows, 
brigs  and  brigantines  and  caravels  and  tall  galleons 
from  Spain — all  crowded  the  ports  of  the  Nether- 
lands, whose  commerce  was  at  its  zenith.  Thread- 
ing his  way  through  the  motley  craft,  Hudson  slowly 
worked  out  to  sea. 

All  went  well  till  the  consort.  Good  Hope,  turned 
back  north  of  Norway  and  the  Halj  Moon  ploughed 
on  alone  into  the  ice  fields  of  Nova  Zembla  with  her 
lawless  lascar  crew.  This  was  the  region  where 
other  Dutch  crews  had  perished  miserably.  Here, 
too,  Hudson's  English  sailors  had  lost  courage  the 
year  before.  And  here  Dutch  and  English  always 
fought  for  fishing  rights.  The  cold  north  wind 
roared  down  in  gusts  and  flaws  and  sudden  bursts  of 
fury.  Against  such  freezing  cold,  the  flimsy  finery 
of  damasks  and  calico  worn  by  the  East  Indians  was 
no  protection.  The  lascars  were  chilled  to  the  bone. 
They  lay  huddled  in  their  berths  bound  up  in 
blankets  and  refused  to  stir  above  decks  in  such  cold. 
Promptly,  the  English  sailors  rebelled  against  double 
work.  The  old  feud  between  English  and  Dutch 
flamed  up.  Knives  were  out,  and  before  Hudson 
realized,  a  mutiny  was  raging  about  his  ears. 

30 


Hudson's  Third  Voyage 


If  he  turned  back,  he  was  ruined.  The  door  of 
opportunity  to  new  success  is  a  door  that  shuts 
against  retreat.  His  friend,  Smith  of  Virginia,  had 
written  to  him  of  the  great  inlet  of  the  Chesapeake 
in  America.  South  of  the  Chesapeake  was  no  pas- 
sage to  the  South  Sea.  Smith  knew  that;  but  north 
of  the  Chesapeake  old  charts  marked  an  unexplored 
arm  of  the  sea.  When  Verrazano,  the  Italian, 
coasted  America  for  France  in  1524,  he  had  been 
driven  by  a  squall  from  the  entrance  to  a  vast  river 
between  Thirty-nine  and  Forty-one  (the  Hudson 
River) ;  and  the  Spanish  charts  of  Estevan  Gomez, 
in  1525,  marked  an  unknown  Rio  de  Gamos  on  the 
same  coast.  Hudson  now  recalled  Smith's  advice 
— to  seek  passage  between  the  James  River  and  the 
St.  Lawrence. 

To  clinch  matters  came  a  gust  driving  westward 
over  open  sea.  Robert  Juet,  seeking  guidance  from 
the  heavenly  bodies,  notices  for  the  first  time  in 
history,  on  May  19,  that  there  is  a  spot  on  the  sun. 
If  Hudson  had  accomplished  nothing  more,  he  had 
made  two  important  discoveries  for  science — the 
Polar  Current  and  the  spot  on  the  sun.  Geog- 
raphers and  astronomers  have  been  knighted  and 
pensioned  for  less  important  discoveries. 

West,  southwest,  drove  the  storm  flaw,  the  Halj 
Moon  scudding  bare  of  sails  for  three  hundred  miles. 

31 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Was  it  destiny  again,  or  his  daemon,  or  his  Puck,  or 
his  will-o'-the-wisp,  or  the  Providence  of  God — that 
drove  Hudson  contrary  to  his  plans  straight  for  the 
scene  of  his  immortal  discoveries?  Pause  was  made 
at  the  Faroes  for  wood  and  water.  There,  too,  Hud- 
son consulted  with  his  officers  and  decided  to  steer 
for  America. 

Once  more  afloat,  June  saw  the  Half  Moon  with 
its  lazy  lascars  lounging  over  rails  down  among  the 
brown  fogs  of  Newfoundland.  Here  a  roaring  nor'- 
easter  came  with  the  suddenness  of  a  thunderclap. 
The  scream  of  wind  through  the  rigging,  the  gro\\  lers 
swishing  against  the  keel,  then  the  thunder  of  the 
great  billows  banging  broadsides — were  like  the 
burst  of  cannon  fire  over  a  battlefield.  The  fore- 
mast snapped  and  swept  into  the  seas  as  the  little 
Halj  Moon  careened  over  on  one  side,  and  the  next 
gust  that  caught  her  tore  the  other  sails  to  tatters, 
but  she  still  kept  her  prow  headed  southwest. 

Fogs  lay  as  they  nearly  always  lie  on  the  Grand 
Banks,  but  a  sudden  lift  of  the  mist  on  June  25  re- 
vealed a  sail  standing  east.  To  the  pirate  East 
Indian  sailors,  the  sight  of  the  strange  ship  was  like 
the  smell  of  powder  to  a  battle  horse.  Loot !  Spanish 
loot!  With  a  whoop,  they  headed  the  Halj  Moon 
about  in  utter  disregard  of  Hudson,  and  gave  chase. 
From  midday  to  dark  the  Halj  Moon  played  pirate, 

32 


Hudson's  Third  Voyage 


cutting  the  waves  in  pursuit,  careening  to  the  wind 
in  a  way  that  threatened  to  capsize  boat  and  crew, 
the  fugitive  bearing  away  Hke  a  bird  on  wing.  This 
little  by-play  lasted  till  darkness  hid  the  strange  ship, 
but  the  madcap  prank  seemed  to  rouse  the  lazy 
lascars  from  their  torpor.  Henceforth,  they  were 
alert  for  any  lawless  raid  that  promised  plunder. 

Back  about  the  Halj  Moon  through  the  warm  June 
night.  Dutch  and  English  forgathered  in  the  moon- 
light squatting  about  on  the  ship's  kegs  spinning 
yarns  of  bloody  pirate  venture,  when  Spanish  car- 
goes were  scuttled  and  Spanish  dons  tossed  off  bayo- 
net point  into  the  sea,  and  Spanish  ladies  compelled 
to  walk  the  plank  blindfolded  into  watery  graves. 
What  kind  of  venture  did  they  expect  in  America — 
this  rascal  crew? 

Then  the  fogs  of  the  Banks  settled  down  again  like 
wool.  Here  and  there,  like  phantom  ships  were  the 
sails  of  the  French  fishing  fleet,  or  the  black-hulled 
bateaux,  or  the  rocking  Newfoundland  dories. 

A  long  white  curl  of  combing  waves,  and  they  have 
sheered  off  from  the  Wreckers'  Reef  at  Sable  Island. 

Slower  now,  and  steady,  the  small  boats  sounding 
ahead,  for  the  water  is  shallow  and  the  wind  shifty. 
In  the  calm  that  falls,  the  crew  fishes  lazily  over 
decks  for  cod.  Through  the  fog  and  dark  of  July 
1 6,  something  ahead  looks  like  islands.    The  boat 

33 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

anchors  for  the  night,  and  when  gray  morning  breaks, 
the  Half  Moon  lies  off  what  is  now  known  as  Penob- 
scot Bay,  Maine. 

Two  dugouts  paddled  by  Indians  come  climbing 
the  waves.  Dressed  in  brcechcloths  of  fur  and 
feathers,  the  savages  mount  the  decks  without  fear. 
The  lascars  gather  round — not  much  promise  of 
plunder  from  such  scant  attire !  By  signs  and  a  few 
French  words,  the  Indians  explain  that  St.  Lawrence 
traders  frequent  this  coast.  The  East  India  cut- 
throats prick  up  their  ears.  Trade — what  had  these 
defenceless  savages  to  trade? 

That  week  Hudson  sailed  up  the  river  and  sent 
his  carpenters  ashore  to  make  fresh  masts,  but  the 
East  India  men  rummaged  the  redskins'  camp. 
Great  store  of  furs,  they  saw.  It  was  not  the  kind  of 
loot  they  wanted.  Gold  was  more  to  their  choice, 
but  it  was  better  than  no  loot  at  all. 

The  Halj  Moon  was  ready  to  sail  on  the  25th  of 
July.  In  spite  of  Hudson's  commands,  six  sailors 
went  ashore  with  heavy  old-fashioned  musketoons 
known  as  "murderers."  Seizing  the  Indian  canoes, 
they  opened  fire  on  the  camp.  The  amazed  Indians 
dashed  for  hiding  in  the  woods.  The  sailors  then 
plundered  the  wigwams  of  everything  that  could  be 
carried  away.  This  has  always  been  considered 
a  terrible  blot  against  Hudson's  fame.    The  only 

34 


'^%i 


New  Amsterdam  or  New  York  from  an  Old  Print  of  1660. 


>\ 


-■^^ 


Albany  from  an  Old  Print. 


Hudson's   Third  Voyage 


explanation  given  by  Juet  in  the  ship's  log  is,  'W 
drave  the  savages  from  the  houses  and  took  the  spoyle 
as  they  woidd  have  done  of  w.?."  Van  Meteren,  the 
Dutch  consul  in  London,  who  had  Hudson's  account, 
gives  another  explanation.  He  declares  the  Dutch 
sailors  conducted  the  raid  in  spite  of  all  the  force 
with  which  Hudson  could  oppose  them.  The  Eng- 
lish sailors  refused  to  enforce  his  commands  by 
fighting,  for  they  were  outnumbered  by  the  muti- 
neers. No  sooner  were  the  mutineers  back  on  deck 
than  they  fell  to  pummeling  one  another  over  a  divi- 
sion of  the  plunder.  Any  one,  who  knows  how  news 
carries  among  the  Indians  by  what  fur  traders 
describe  as  "the  moccasin  telegram,"  could  predict 
results.  "The  moccasin  telegram"  bore  exagge- 
rated rumors  of  the  outrage  from  the  Penobscot  to 
the  Ohio.  The  white  man  was  a  man  to  be  fought, 
for  he  had  proved  himself  a  treacherous  friend. 

Wind-bound  at  times,  keeping  close  to  land, 
warned  off  the  reefs  through  fog  by  a  great  rutt  or 
rustling  of  the  tide,  the  pirate  sailors  now  disregard- 
ing all  commands,  the  Half  Moon  drifted  lazily 
southward  past  Cape  Cod.  Somewhere  near  Nan- 
tucket, a  lonely  cry  sounded  from  the  wooded  shore. 
It  was  a  human  voice.  Fearing  some  Christian  had 
been  marooned  by  mutineers  like  his  own  crew,  Hud- 
son sent  his  small  boat  ashore.    A  camp  of  Indians 

35 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

was  found  dancing  in  a  frenzy  of  joy  at  the  appari- 
tion of  the  great  "winged  wigwam"  gliding  over  the 
sea.  A  present  of  glass  buttons  filled  their  cup  of 
happiness  to  the  brim. 

Grapevines  festooned  the  dank  forests.  Flowers 
still  bloomed  in  shady  nooks — the  wild  sunflower 
and  the  white  daisy  and  the  nodding  goldenrod ;  and 
the  sailors  drank  clear  water  from  a  crystal  spring 
at  the  roots  of  a  great  oak.  Robert  Juet's  ship  log 
records  that  ^Hhe  Indian  country  oj  great  hills^^ — 
Massachusetts — was  "a  very  sweet  land.^^ 

On  August  7,  Hudson  was  abreast  New  York 
harbor;  but  a  mist  part  heat,  part  fog,  part  the 
gathering  purples  of  coming  autumn — hid  the  low- 
lying  hills.  Sliding  idly  along  the  summer  sea, 
mystic,  unreal,  lotus  dreams  in  the  very  August  air, 
the  world  a  world  of  gold  in  the  yellow  summer 
light — the  Half  Moon  came  to  James  River  by  Au- 
gust 18,  where  Smith  of  Virginia  lived;  but  the 
mutineers  had  no  mind  to  go  up  to  Jamestown  set- 
tlement. There,  the  English  would  outnumber 
them,  and  English  law  did  not  deal  gently  with 
mutineers.  A  heat  hurricane  sent  the  green  waves 
smashing  over  decks  off  South  Carolina,  and  in  the 
frantic  fright  of  the  ship's  cat  dashing  from  side  to 
side,  the  turbaned  pirates  imagined  portent  of  evil. 
Perhaps,  too,  they  were  coming  too  near  the  Spanish 

36 


Hudson's   Third  Voyage 


settlements  of  Florida.  All  their  bravado  of  scuttled 
Spanish  ships  may  have  been  pot-valor.  Any  way, 
they  consented  to  head  the  boat  back  north  in  a 
search  for  the  passage  above  the  Chesapeake. 

Past  the  swampy  Chesapeake,  a  run  up  the  Dela- 
ware burnished  as  a  mirror  in  the  morning  light; 
through  the  heat  haze  over  a  glassy  sea  along  that 
New  Jersey  shore  where  the  world  of  pleasure  now 
passes  its  summers  from  Cape  May  and  Atlantic 
City  to  the  highlands  of  New  Jersey — slowly  glided 
the  Half  Moon.  Sand  reefs  gritted  the  keel,  and  the 
boat  sheered  out  from  shore  where  a  line  of  white 
foam  forewarned  more  reefs.  Juet,  the  mate,  did 
duty  at  the  masthead,  scanning  the  long  coast  line 
for  that  inlet  of  the  old  charts.  The  East  India 
men  lay  sprawled  over  decks,  beards  unkempt,  long 
hair  tied  back  by  gypsy  handkerchiefs,  bizarre  jewels 
gleaming  from  huge  brass  earrings.  Some  were 
paying  out  the  sounding  line  from  the  curved  beak 
of  the  prow.  Others  fished  for  a  shark  at  the  stern, 
throwing  out  pork  bait  at  the  end  of  a  rope.  Many 
were  squatted  on  the  decks  unsheltered  from  the  sun, 
chattering  like  parrots  over  games  of  chance. 

A  sudden  shout  from  Juet  at  the  masthead — of 
shoals !  A  grit  of  the  keel  over  pebbly  bottom !  On 
the  far  inland  hills,  the  signal  fires  of  watching 
Indians!    Then    the    sea    breaking    from    between 

37 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

islands  turbid  and  muddy  as  if  it  came  from  some 
great  river  —  September  2,  they  have  found  the 
inlet  of  the  old  charts.  They  are  on  the  threshold 
of  New  York  harbor.  They  have  discovered  the 
great  river  now  known  by  Hudson's  name.  Even 
the  mutineers  stop  gambling  to  observe  the  scene. 
The  ringleader  that  in  all  sea  stories  wears  a  hook 
on  one  arm  points  to  the  Atlantic  Highlands  smoky 
in  the  summer  heat.  On  their  left  to  the  south  is 
Sandy  Hook;  to  the  north,  Staten  Island.  To  the 
right  with  a  lumpy  hill  line  like  green  waves  running 
into  one  another  lie  Coney  Island  and  Long  Island. 
The  East  India  men  laugh  with  glee.  It's  a  fine 
land.  It's  a  big  land.  This  is  better  than  risking 
the  gallows  for  mutiny  down  in  Virginia,  or  taking 
chances  of  having  throats  cut  boarding  some  Spanish 
galleon  of  the  South  Seas.  The  ship's  log  does  not 
say  anything  about  it.  Neither  does  Van  Meteren's 
record,  but  I  don't  think  Hudson  would  have  been 
human  if  his  heart  did  not  give  a  leap.  At  five  in  the 
afternoon  of  September  2,  the  Half  Moon  anchored  at 
the  entrance  to  New  York  harbor  not  far  from  where 
the  Goddess  of  Liberty  waves  her  great  arm  to-day. 
Silent  is  the  future,  silent  as  the  sphinx!  How 
could  those  Dutch  sailors  guess,  how  could  the  Dutch 
company  that  sent  them  to  the  Pole  know,  that  the 
commerce  of  the  world  for  which  they  fought  Spain 

38 


Hudson's  Third  Voyage 


— would  one  day  beat  up  and  down  these  harbor 
waters?  Dreamed  he  never  so  wildly,  Hudson's 
wildest  dream  could  not  have  forseen  that  the  river 
he  had  discovered  would  one  day  throb  to  the  multi- 
tudinous voices  of  a  world  traffic,  a  world  empire,  a 
world  wealth. 

In  Hudson's  day,  Spain  was  the  leader  of  the 
world's  commerce  against  whom  all  nations  vied. 
To-day  her  population  does  not  exceed  twenty 
million,  but  there  flows  through  the  harbor  gates, 
which  Hudson,  the  penniless  pilot  dreamer,  discov- 
ered, the  commerce  of  a  hundred  million  people. 
It  is  no  straining  to  say  that  individual  fortunes 
have  been  made  in  the  traffic  of  New  York  harbor 
which  exceed  the  national  incomes  of  Spain  and 
Holland  and  Belgium  combined.  But  if  a  city's 
greatness  consists  in  something  more  than  volume  of 
wealth  and  volume  of  traffic;  if  it  consists  in  high 
endeavor  and  self-sacrifice  and  the  pursuit  of  ideals 
to  the  death,  Hudson,  the  dreamer,  beset  by  rascal 
mutineers  and  pursuing  his  aim  in  spite  of  all  diffi- 
culties, embodied  in  himself  the  qualities  that  go  to 
make  true  greatness. 

Mist  and  heat  haze  hid  the  harbor  till  ten  next 
morning.  The  Halj  Moon  then  glided  a  pace  in- 
land.    Three  great  rivers  seemed  to  open  before  her 

39 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

— the  Hudson,  East  River  and  one  of  the  channels 
round  Staten  Island.  On  the  4th,  while  the  small 
boat  went  ahead  to  sound,  some  sailors  rowed  ashore 
to  fish.  Tradition  says  that  the  first  white  men  to 
set  foot  on  New  York  harbor  landed  on  Coney  Island, 
though  there  is  no  proof  it  was  not  Staten  Island, 
for  the  ship  lay  anchored  beside  both.  The  wind 
blew  so  hard  this  night  that  the  anchor  dragged  over 
bottom  and  the  Half  Moon  poked  her  prow  into 
the  sands  of  Staten  Island,  ^^hut  took  no  hurt,  thanks 
be  to  God,''  adds  Juet. 

Signal  fires — burning  driftwood  and  flames  shot 
up  through  hollow  trees — had  rallied  the  Indian 
tribes  to  the  marvel  of  the  house  afloat  on  the  sea. 
Objects  like  beings  from  heaven  seemed  to  live  on 
the  house — so  the  poor  Indians  thought,  and  they 
began  burning  sacrificial  fires  and  sent  runners  beat- 
ing up  the  wise  men  of  all  the  tribes.  A  religious 
dance  was  begun  typifying  welcome.  Spies  watch- 
ing through  the  foliage  came  back  with  word  that 
one  of  the  Manitous  was  chief  of  all  the  rest,  for  he 
was  dressed  in  a  bright  scarlet  cloak  with  something 
on  it  bright  as  the  sun — they  did  not  know  a  name 
for  gold  lace  worn  by  Hudson  as  commander.  When 
the  Alanitou  with  the  gold  lace  went  ashore  at  Rich- 
mond, Staten  Island,  Indian  legend  says  that  the 
chiefs  gathered  round  in  a  circle  under  the  oaks  and 

40 


Hudson's  Third  Voyage 


chanted  an  ode  of  welcome  to  the  rhythmic  measures 
of  a  dance.  The  natives  accompanied  Hudson  back  to 
the  Half  Moon  with  gifts  of  maize  and  tobacco — "a 
friendly  people,''^  Hudson's  manuscript  describes  them. 
Two  days  passed  in  the  Narrows  with  interchange 
of  gifts  between  whites  and  Indians.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  6th,  Hudson  sent  Colman  and  four  men  to 
sound  vv^hat  is  now  known  as  Hell  Gate.  The  sailors 
went  on  to  the  Battery — the  southernmost  point  of 
New  York  City  as  it  is  to-day — finding  lands  pleasant 
with  grass  and  flowers  and  goodly  oaks,  the  air  crisp 
with  the  odor  of  autumn  woods.  With  the  yellow 
sun  aslant  the  painted  autumn  forests,  it  was  easy 
to  forget  time.  The  day  passed  in  idle  wanderings. 
At  dusk  rain  began  to  fall.  This  extinguished  "the 
match-lighters"  of  the  men's  muskets.  Launching 
their  boat  again,  they  were  rowing  back  to  the  Halj 
Moon  through  a  rain  fine  as  mist  when  two  canoes 
with  a  score  of  warriors  suddenly  emerged  from  the 
dusk.  Both  parties  paused  in  mutual  amazement. 
Then  the  warriors  uttered  a  shout  and  had  dis- 
charged a  shower  of  arrows  before  the  astonished 
sailors  could  defend  themselves.  Was  the  attack  a 
chance  encounter  with  hostiles,  or  had  "the  moccasin 
telegram"  brought  news  of  the  murderous  raid  on  the 
Penobscot?  One  sailor  fell  dead  shot  through  the 
throat.    Two  of  the  other  four  men  were  injured. 

41 


The  Conquest  of  tJie  Great  Northwest 

The  dead  man  was  the  Enghshman,  Colman.  This 
weakened  Hudson  against  the  Dutch  mutineers. 
Muskets  were  wet  and  useless.  In  the  dark,  the  men 
had  lost  the  ship.  The  tide  began  to  run  with  a 
high  wind.  They  threw  out  a  grapnel.  It  did  not 
hold.  All  night  in  the  rain  and  dark,  the  two  unin- 
jured men  toiled  at  the  oars  to  keep  from  drifting  out 
to  sea.  Daylight  brought  relief.  The  enemy  had 
retreated,  and  the  Half  Moon  lay  not  far  away.  By 
ten  of  the  morning,  they  reached  the  ship.  The  dead 
man  was  rowed  ashore  and  buried  at  a  place  named 
after  him — Colman's  Point.  As  the  old  Dutch  maps 
have  a  Colman's  Punt  marked  at  the  upper  end  of 
Sandy  Hook,  that  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  burial 
place.  A  wall  of  boards  was  now  erected  round  the 
decks  of  the  Half  Moon  and  men-at-arms  kept  posted. 
Indians,  who  came  to  trade  that  day,  affected  igno- 
rance of  the  attack  but  wanted  knives  for  their  furs. 
Hudson  was  not  to  be  tricked.  He  refused,  and  per- 
mitted only  two  savages  on  board  at  a  time.  Two 
he  clothed  in  scarlet  coats  like  his  own,  and  kept  on 
board  to  guide  him  up  the  channel  of  the  main  river. 
The  farther  he  advanced,  the  higher  grew  the 
shores.  First  were  the  ramparts,  walls  of  rock, 
topped  by  a  fringe  of  blasted  trees.  Then  the  coves 
where  cities  like  Tarrytown  nestle  to-day.  Then 
the  forested  peaks  of  the  Highlands  and  West  Point 

42 


The  Duke  of  Marlborough,  One  of  the  First  Governors  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company. 


Hudson's   Third  Voyage 


and  Poughkeepsie,  with  the  oaks  to  the  river's  edge. 
Mist  hung  in  wreaths  across  the  domed  green  of  the 
mountain  called  Old  Anthony's  Nose.  Mountain 
streams  tore  down  to  the  river  through  a  tangle  of 
evergreens,  and  in  the  crisp,  nutty  autumn  air  was 
the  all  pervasive  resinous  odor  of  the  pines.  Moun- 
tains along  the  Hudson,  which  to-day  scarcely  feel 
the  footfall  of  man  except  for  the  occasional  hunter, 
were  in  Hudson's  time  peopled  by  native  mountain- 
eers. From  their  eerie  nests  they  could  keep  eagle 
eye  on  all  the  surrounding  country  and  swoop  down 
like  birds  of  prey  on  all  intruders.  As  the  white  sails 
of  the  Half  Moon  rattled  and  shifted  and  flapped  to 
the  wind  tacking  up  the  river,  thin  columns  of  smoke 
rose  from  the  heights  around,  lights  flashed  from  peak 
to  peak  like  watch  fires — the  signals  of  the  moun- 
taineers. From  the  beginning  of  time  they  had  dwelt 
secure  on  these  airy  peaks.  What  invader  was  this, 
gliding  up  the  river-silences,  sails  spread  like  wings? 

By  the  13th  of  September,  the  Halj  Moan  had 
passed  Yonkers.  On  the  morning  of  the  15th,  it 
anchored  within  the  shadow  of  the  Catskills.  On  the 
night  of  the  19th,  it  lay  at  poise  on  the  amber  swamps, 
where  the  river  widens  near  modern  Albany.  Either 
their  professions  of  friendship  had  been  a  farce 
from  the  first,  or  they  were  afraid  to  be  carried  into 
the  land   of  the  Mohawks,   but  the  two  savages, 

43 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

who  had  come  as  guides,  sprang  through  the  port- 
hole near  Catskill  and  swam  ashore,  running  along 
the  banks  shouting  defiance. 

Below  Albany,  Hudson  went  ashore  with  an  old 
chief  of  the  country.  "He  was  chief  of  forty  men,'^ 
Hudson's  manuscript  records,  "whom  I  saw  in  a 
house  of  oak  hark,  circular  in  shape  with  arched  roof. 
It  contained  a  great  quantity  of  corn  and  beans,  enough 
to  load  three  ships,  besides  what  was  growing  in  the 
fields.  On  our  coming  into  the  house,  two  mats  were 
spread  to  sit  upon  and  food  was  served  in  red  wooden 
bow'ls.  Two  men  were  dispatched  hi  quest  of  game,  who 
brought  in  a  pair  of  pigeons.  They  likewise  killed  a  fat 
dog  and  skinned  it  with  great  haste  with  shells.  The 
land  is  the  -finest  for  cidtivation  that  ever  I  in  my  life 
set  foot  upon.^^  Hudson  had  not  found  a  passage  to 
China,  but  his  soul  was  satisfied  of  his  life  labor. 

Above  Albany,  the  river  became  shoaly.  Hudson 
sent  his  men  forward  twice  to  sound,  but  thirty  miles 
beyond  Albany  the  water  was  too  shallow  for  the 
Half  Moon. 

How  far  up  the  river  had  Hudson  sailed?  Juet's 
ship  log  does  not  give  the  latitude,  but  Van  Meteren's 
record  says  42°  40'.  Beyond  this,  on  September  22, 
the  small  boat  advanced  thirty  miles.  Tradition 
says  Hudson  ascended  as  far  as  Waterford. 

While  the  boats  were  sounding,  the  conspirators 

44 


TludsorCs  Third  Voyage 


were  at  their  usual  mischief.  Indian  chiefs  had 
come  on  board.  They  were  taken  down  to  the  cabin 
and  made  gloriously  drunk.  All  went  merrily  till 
one  Indian  fell  insensible.  The  rest  scampered  in 
panic  and  came  back  with  offerings  of  wampum — 
their  most  precious  possession — for  the  chief's  ran- 
som. When  they  secured  him  alive,  they  brought 
more  presents — wampum  and  venison — in  gratitude. 
To  this  escapade  of  the  mischief-making  crew, 
moccasin  rumor  added  a  thousand  exaggerations 
which  came  down  in  Indian  tradition  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last  century.  After  the  drunken  frenzy 
— legend  says — the  white  men  made  a  great  oration 
promising  to  come  again.  When  they  returned  the 
next  year,  they  asked  for  as  much  land  as  the  hide  of 
a  bullock  would  cover.  The  Indians  granted  it, 
but  the  white  men  cut  the  buffalo  hide  to  strips  nar- 
row as  a  child's  finger  and  so  encompassed  all  the 
land  of  Manahat  (Manhattan).  The  whites  then 
built  a  fort  for  trade.  The  name  of  the  fort  was 
New  Amsterdam.  It  grew  to  be  a  mighty  city. 
Such  are  Indian  legends  of  New  York's  beginnings. 
They  probably  have  as  much  truth  as  the  story  of 
Rome  and  the  wolf. 

On  September  23,  the  Halj  Moon  turned  her 
prow  south.  The  Hudson  lay  in  all  its  autumn 
glory — a  glassy  sheet  walled  by  the  painted  woods, 

45 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

now  gorgeous  with  the  frost  tints  of  gold  and  scarlet 
and  carmine.  The  ship  anchored  each  night  and 
the  crew  wandered  ashore  hatching  pirate  plots. 
Finally  they  presented  their  ultimatum  to  Hudson — 
they  would  slay  him  if  he  dared  to  steer  for  Holland. 
Weakened  by  the  death  of  Colman,  the  English  were 
helpless  against  the  Dutch  mutineers.  Perhaps 
they,  too,  were  not  averse  to  seizing  the  Company's 
ship  and  becoming  sea  rovers  along  the  shores  of 
such  a  land.  At  least  one  of  them  turned  pirate  the 
next  voyage.  Twice,  the  Halj  Moon  was  run 
aground  —  at  Catskill  and  at  Esopus  —  probably 
intentionally,  or  because  Hudson  dared  not  send 
his  faithful  Englishmen  ahead  to  sound. 

Near  Anthony's  Nose,  the  wind  is  compressed 
with  the  force  of  a  huge  bellows,  and  the  ship  an- 
chored in  shelter  from  the  eddying  gale.  Signal 
fires  had  rallied  the  mountain  tribes.  As  the  ship 
lay  wind-bound  on  the  night  of  October  i,  the  In- 
dians floating  about  in  their  dugouts  grew  daring. 
One  climbed  the  rudder  and  stole  Juet's  clothes 
through  the  cabin  window.  Juct  shot  him  dead 
red-handed  in  the  act,  and  gave  the  alarm  to  the 
rest  of  the  crew.  With  a  splash,  the  Indians  rushed 
for  shore,  paddling  and  swimming,  but  a  boat  load 
of  white  men  pursued  to  regain  the  plunder.  A 
swimmer  caught  Juet's  boat  to  upset  it.     The  ship's 

46 


Hudson's  Third  Voyage  1609, 
Discovery  of  Hudson  River 


Hudsoris   Third  Voyage 


cook  slashed  the  Indian's  arm  off,  and  he  sank  like 
stone.  It  was  now  dark,  but  Hudson  slipped  down 
stream  away  from  danger.  Near  Harlem  River  the 
next  afternoon,  a  hundred  hostiles  were  seen  am- 
bushed on  the  east  bank.  Led  by  the  guides  who 
had  escaped  going  up  stream,  two  canoes  glided 
under  The  Half  Moon^s  rudder  and  let  fly  a  shower 
of  arrows.  Much  as  Hudson  must  have  disliked 
to  open  his  powder  magazines  to  mutineers,  arms 
were  handed  out.  A  spatter  of  musketry  drove  the 
Indians  a  gunshot  distant.  Three  savages  fell. 
Then  there  was  a  rally  of  the  Indians  to  shoot  from 
shore  near  what  is  now  Riverside  Drive.  Hudson 
trained  his  cannon  on  them.  Two  more  fell.  Per- 
sistent as  hornets,  out  they  sallied  in  canoes.  This 
time  Hudson  let  go  every  cannon  on  that  side. 
Twelve  savages  were  killed. 

The  Half  Moon  then  glided  past  Hopoghan  (Ho- 
boken)  to  safer  anchorage  on  the  open  bay.  It  was 
October  4th  before  she  passed  through  the  Narrows 
to  the  Sea.  Here,  the  mutiny  reached  a  climax. 
Hudson  could  no  more  ignore  threats.  The  Dutch 
refused  to  steer  the  ship  to  Holland,  where  punish- 
ment would  await  them.  Juet  advised  wintering 
in  Newfoundland,  where  there  would  be  other  Eng- 
lishmen, but  Hudson  allayed  discontent  by  prom- 
ising not  to  send  the  guilty  men  to  Holland  if  they 

47 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

would  steer  the  ship  to  England ;  and  to  Dartmouth 
in  Devon  she  came  on  November  7,  1609. 

What  was  Hudson's  surprise  to  learn  he  had 
become  an  enormously  important  personage!  The 
Muscovy  Gentlemen  of  London  did  not  purpose 
allowing  his  knowledge  of  the  passage  toward  the 
Pole  to  pass  into  the  service  of  their  rivals,  the  Dutch. 
Hudson  was  forbidden  to  leave  his  own  country  and 
had  to  send  his  report  to  Holland  through  Van 
Metercn,  the  consul.  The  Halj  Moon  returned  to 
Holland  and  was  wrecked  a  few  years  later  on  her 
way  to  the  East  Indies,  It  is  to  be  hoped  Hudson's 
crew  went  down  with  her.  The  odd  thing  was — 
while  Hudson  was  valued  for  his  knowledge  of  the 
Polar  regions,  the  discovery  of  Hudson  River  added 
not  one  jot  to  his  fame.  In  fact,  one  historian  of 
that  time  declares:  ^^ Hudson  achieved  nothing  at  all 
in  1609.  ^''  All  he  did  was  to  exchange  merchandise 
for  jiirs.''^  Nevertheless,  the  merchants  of  Amster- 
dam were  rigging  out  ships  to  establish  a  trading 
factory  on  the  entrance  of  that  newly  discovered 
river.  Such  was  the  founding  of  New  York.  Money 
bags  sneer  at  the  dreamer,  but  they  are  quick  to 
transmute  dreams  into  gold,  though  three  hundred 
years  were  to  pass  before  any  of  the  gold  drawn 
from  his  dreams  was  applied  toward  erecting  to 
Hudson  a  memorial. 

48 


CHAPTER  IV 

1610 

Hudson's  fourth  voyage 

THREE  years  almost  to  a  day  from  the  time 
he  set  out  to  pursue  his  Phantom  Dream 
along  an  endless  Trail,  Hudson  again  set 
sail  for  the  mystic  North.  This  time  the  Muscovy 
Gentlemen  did  not  send  him  as  a  company,  but 
three  members  of  that  company — Smith,  Wolsten- 
holme  and  Digges — supplied  him  with  the  bark, 
Discovery.  In  his  crew  of  twenty  were  several  of 
his  former  seamen,  among  whom  was  the  old  mate, 
Juet.  Provisions  were  carried  for  a  year's  cruise. 
One  Coleburne  went  as  adviser;  but  what  with  the 
timidity  of  the  old  crew  and  the  officious  ignorance 
of  the  adviser  stirring  up  discontent  by  fault-finding 
before  the  boat  was  well  out  of  Thames  waters — 
Hudson  was  obliged  to  pack  Coleburne  back  on  the 
first  craft  met  home-bound.  The  rest  of  the  crew 
comprised  the  usual  proportion  of  rogues  impressed 
against  their  will  for  a  voyage,  which  regular  seamen 
feared. 

49 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Having  found  one  great  river  north  of  the  Chesa- 
peake, Hudson's  next  thought  was  of  that  arm  of 
the  sea  south  of  Greenland,  which  Cabot  and  Frob- 
isher  and  Davis  had  all  reported  to  be  a  passage  as 
large  as  the  Mediterranean,  and  to  Greenland  Hud- 
son steered  The  Discovery  in  April,  1610.  June 
saw  the  ship  moored  off  Iceland  under  the  shadow 
of  Hekla's  volcanic  fires.  Smoke  above  Hekla  was 
always  deemed  sign  of  foul  weather.  Twice  The 
Discovery  was  driven  back  by  storm,  and  the  storm 
blew  the  smoldering  fears  of  the  unwilling  seamen 
to  raging  discontent.  Bathing  in  the  hot  springs, 
Juet,  the  old  mate,  grumbled  at  Hudson  for  sailing 
North  instead  of  to  that  pleasant  land  they  had 
found  the  previous  year.  The  impressed  sailors 
were  only  too  ready  to  listen,  and  the  wrong-headed 
foolish  old  mate  waxed  bolder.  He  advised  the  men 
"to  keep  muskets  loaded  in  their  cabins,  for  they 
would  need  firearms,  and  there  would  be  bloodshed 
if  the  master  persisted  going  by  Greenland."  And 
all  unconscious  of  the  secret  fires  beginning  to  burn 
against  him,  was  Hudson  on  the  quarter-deck  gazing 
westward,  imagining  that  the  ice  bank  seen  through 
the  mirage  of  the  rosy  North  light  was  Greenland 
hiding  the  goal  of  his  hopes.  All  you  had  to  do  was 
round  Cape  Farewell,  south  of  Greenland,  and  you 
would  be  in  the  passage  that  led  to  the  South  Sea. 

50 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


It  was  July  when  the  boat  reached  the  southern 
end  of  Greenland,  and  if  the  crew  had  been  terrified 
by  Juet's  tales  of  ice  north  of  Asia,  they  were  panic- 
stricken  now,  for  the  icebergs  of  America  were  as 
mountains  are  to  mole-hills  compared  to  the  ice  floes 
of  Asia.  Before,  Hudson  had  cruised  the  east  coast 
of  Greenland.  There,  the  ice  continents  of  a  polar 
world  can  disport  themselves  in  an  ocean's  spacious 
area,  but  west  of  Greenland,  ice  fields  the  area  of 
Europe  are  crunched  for  four  hundred  miles  into  a 
passage  narrower  than  the  Mediterranean.  To  make 
matters  worse,  up  these  passages  jammed  with  ice- 
bergs washed  hard  as  adamant,  the  full  force  of  the 
Atlantic  tide  flings  against  the  southward  flow  of  the 
Arctic  waters.  The  result  is  the  famous  "furious 
overfall,"  the  nightmare  of  northern  seamen — a 
cataract  of  waters  thirty  feet  high  flinging  themselves 
against  the  natural  flow  of  the  ice.  It  is  a  battle  of 
blind  fury,  ceaseless  and  tireless. 

Hudson  Straits  may  be  described  as  a  great  arm 
of  the  ocean  curving  to  an  inland  sea  the  size  of  the 
Mediterranean.  At  each  end,  the  Straits  are  less 
than  fifty  miles  wide,  lined  and  interspread  with 
rocky  islands  and  dangerous  reefs.  Inside,  the 
Straits  widen  to  a  breadth  of  from  one  hundred  to 
two  hundred  miles.  Ungava  Bay  on  the  east  is  a 
cup-like  basin,  which  the  wash  of  the  iron  ice  has 

51 


The  Co7iquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

literally  ground  out  of  Labrador's  rocky  shore.  Half 
way  up  at  Savage  Point  about  two  hundred  miles 
from  the  ocean,  Hudson  Straits  suddenly  contract. 
This  is  known  as  the  Second  Narrows.  The  moun- 
tainous, snow-clad  shores  converge  to  a  sharp  funnel. 
Into  this  funnel  pours  the  jammed,  churning  mael- 
strom of  ice  floes  the  size  of  a  continent,  and  against 
this  chaos  flings  the  Atlantic  tide. 

Old  fur-trade  captains  of  a  later  era  entered  the 
Straits  armed  and  accoutered  as  for  war.  It  was  a 
standing  regulation  among  the  fur-trade  captains 
always  to  have  one-fourth  extra  allowance  of  pro- 
visions for  the  delay  in  the  straits.  Six  iron-shod 
ice  hooks  were  carried  for  mooring  to  the  ice  floes. 
Special  cables  called  "ice  ropes"  were  used.  Twelve 
great  ice  poles,  twelve  handspikes  all  steel-shod,  and 
twelve  chisels  to  drill  holes  in  the  ice  for  powder — 
were  the  regulation  requirements  of  the  fur  traders 
bound  through  Hudson  Straits.  Special  rules  were 
issued  for  captains  entering  the  Straits.  A  checker- 
board sky — deep  blue  reflecting  the  clear  water  of 
ocean,  apple-green  lights  the  sign  of  ice — was  the 
invariable  indication  of  distant  ice.  ''Never  go  on 
''either  at  night  or  in  a  fog  when  you  have  sighted 
"such  a  sky" — was  the  rule.  "Get  your  ice  tackle 
"ready  at  the  straits."  "Stand  away  from  the  in- 
"  draught  between  a  big  iceberg  and  the  tide,  for  if 

52 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


**once  the  indraught  nails  you,  you  are  lost."  "To 
"avoid  a  crush  that  will  sink  you  in  ten  minutes, 
"run  twenty  miles  inside  the  soft  ice;  that  will  break 
"the  force  of  the  tide."  "Be  careful  of  your  lead 
"night  and  day." 

But  these  rules  were  learned  only  after  centuries 
of  navigating.  All  was  new  to  the  seamen  in  Hud- 
son's day.  All  that  was  known  to  the  northern  navi- 
gator was  the  trick  of  throwing  out  the  hook,  gripping 
to  a  floe,  hauling  up  to  it  and  worming  a  way  through 
the  ice  with  a  small  sail. 

Carried  with  the  current  southward  from  Green- 
land, sometimes  slipping  into  the  long  "tickles"  of 
water  open  between  the  floes,  again  watching  their 
chance  to  follow  the  calm  sea  to  the  rear  of  some  giant 
iceberg,  or  else  mooring  to  some  ice  raft  honeycombed 
by  the  summer's  heat  and  therefore  less  likely  to  ram 
the  hull — The  Discovery  came  to  Ungava  Bay,  Labra- 
dor, in  July.  This  is  the  worst  place  on  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  for  ice.  Old  whalers  and  Moravian  mis- 
sionaries told  me  when  I  was  in  Labrador  that  the 
icebergs  at  Ungava  are  often  by  actual  measurement 
nine  miles  long,  and  washed  by  the  tide,  they  have 
been  ground  hard  and  sharp  as  steel.  It  is  here  they 
begin  to  break  up  on  their  long  journey  southward. 

An  island  of  ice  turned  turtle  close  to  Hudson's 
ship.    There  was  an  avalanche  of  falling  seas".   ^^Into 

53 


The  Conr/ucst  of  the  Great  Northivest 

the  ice  we  put  jor  safety,''^  says  the  record.  ^^Some 
oj  our  men  jell  sick.  I  will  not  say  it  was  for  jear, 
though  I  saiu  small  sign  oj  other  griej^  Just  west- 
ward lay  a  great  open  passage — now  known  as  Hud- 
son Strait,  so  the  island  in  Ungava  Bay  was  called 
Desire  Provoked.  Plainly,  they  could  not  remain 
anchored  here,  for  between  bergs  they  were  in  danger 
of  a  crush,  and  the  drift  might  carry  them  on  any  of 
the  rock  reefs  that  rib  the  bay. 

Juet,  the  old  mate,  raged  against  the  madness  of 
venturing  such  a  sea.  Henry  Greene,  a  penniless 
blackguard,  whom  Hudson  had  picked  off  the  streets 
of  London  to  act  as  secretary — now  played  the  tale- 
bearer, fomenting  trouble  between  master  and  crew. 
"Our  master,"  says  Prickett,  one  of  Digges'  servants 
who  was  on  board,  "was  in  despair."  Taking  out 
his  chart,  Hudson  called  the  crew  to  the  cabin  and 
showed  them  how  they  had  come  farther  than  any 
explorer  had  yet  dared.  He  put  it  plainly  to  them — 
would  they  go  on,  or  turn  back?  Let  them  decide 
once  and  for  all;  no  repinings!  There,  on  the  west, 
was  the  passage  they  had  been  seeking.  It  might 
lead  to  the  South  Sea.  There,  to  the  east,  the  way 
home.  On  both  sides  was  equal  danger — ice.  To 
the  west,  was  land.  They  could  see  that  from  the 
masthead.  To  the  east,  between  them  and  home, 
the  width  of  the  ocean. 

54 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


The  crew  were  divided,  but  the  ice  would  not  wait 
for  arguments  and  see-sawings.  It  was  crushing  in 
on  each  side  of  The  Discovery  with  an  ominous  jar  of 
the  timbers.  All  hands  were  mustered  out.  By  the 
usual  devices  in  such  emergencies — by  blowing  up  the 
ice  at  the  prow,  towing  away  obstructions,  rowing  with 
the  ship  in  tow,  all  fenders  down  to  protect  the  sides, 
the  steel-shod  poles  prodding  off  the  icebergs — The 
Discovery  was  hauled  to  open  water.  Then,  as  if  it 
were  the  very  sign  that  the  crew  needed — water  opened 
to  the  west!  There  came  a  spurt  of  wind.  The 
Discovery  spread  her  sails  to  the  breeze  and  carried 
the  vacillating  crew  forward.  For  a  week  they  had 
lain  imprisoned.  By  the  nth  of  July  they  were  in 
Hudson  Straits  on  the  north  side  and  had  anchored 
at  Baffin's  Land,  which  Hudson  named  God's  Mercy. 

That  night  the  men  were  allowed  ashore.  It  was 
a  desolate,  silent,  mountainous  region  that  seemed 
to  lie  in  an  eternal  sleep.  Birds  were  in  myriads — 
their  flacker  but  making  the  profound  silence  more 
cavernous.  When  a  sailor  uttered  a  shout,  there  was 
no  answer  but  the  echo  of  his  own  voice,  thin  and 
weird  and  lonely,  as  if  he,  too,  would  be  swallowed 
up  by  those  deathly  silences.  Men  ran  over  the  ice 
chasing  a  polar  bear.  Others  went  gunning  for 
partridge.  The  hills  were  presently  rocketing  with 
the  crash  and  echo  of  musketry.     Prickett  climbed 

55 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

2l  high  rock  to  spy  ahead.  Open  water  lay  to  the 
southwest.  It  was  hke  a  sea — perhaps  the  South 
Sea;  and  to  the  southwest  Hudson  steered  past 
Charles  and  Salisbury  Islands,  through  "a  whurling 
sea^' — the  Second  Narrows— between  two  high  head- 
lands, Digges  island  on  one  side,  Cape  Wolsten- 
holme  on  the  other,  eventually  putting  into  Port 
Laperriere  on  Digges  Island.  Except  for  two  or  three 
government  stations  where  whaling  captains  for- 
gather in  log  cabins,  the  whole  region  from  Ungava 
Bay  to  Digges  Island,  four  hundred  miles,  practically 
the  whole  length  of  the  Straits  on  the  south — is  as 
unexplored  to-day  as  when  Hudson  first  sailed  those 
waters. 

The  crew  went  ashore  hunting  partridge  over  the 
steep  rocks  of  the  island  and  examining  stone  caches 
of  the  absent  Eskimo.  Hudson  took  a  careful  ob- 
servation of  the  sea.  Before  him  lay  open  water — 
beyond  was  sea,  a  sea  to  the  south!  Was  it  the 
South  Sea?  The  old  record  says  he  was  proudly 
confident  it  was  the  South  Sea,  for  it  was  plainly  a 
sea  as  large  as  the  Baltic  or  Mediterranean.  Fog 
falling,  cannon  were  set  booming  and  rocketing 
among  the  hills  to  call  the  hunters  home.  It  was 
now  August  4-  A  month  had  passed  since  he  en- 
tered the  Straits.  If  it  took  another  month  to  go 
back  through  them,  the  boat  would  be  winter-bound 

56 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


and  could  not  reach  England.  There  was  no  time  to 
lose.  Keeping  between  the  east  coast  of  the  bay 
with  its  high  rocks  and  that  line  of  reefed  islands 
known  as  The  Sleepers,  The  Discovery  pushed  on 
south,  where  the  look-out  still  reported  "a  large  sea 
to  the  jore^  This  is  a  region,  which  at  this  late  day 
of  the  world's  history,  still  remains  almost  unknown. 
The  men  who  have  explored  it  could  be  counted  on 
one  hand.  Towering  rocks  absolutely  bare  but  for 
moss,  with  valley  between  where  the  spring  thaw 
creates  continual  muskeg — moss  on  water  dangerous 
as  quicksands — are  broken  by  swampy  tracks;  and 
near  Richmond,  where  the  Hudson's  Bay  Fur  Com- 
pany maintained  a  post  for  a  few  years,  the  scenery 
attains  a  degree  of  grandeur  similar  to  Norway, 
groves  covering  the  rocky  shores,  cataracts  shattering 
over  the  precipices  and  lonely  vistas  opening  to 
beautiful  meadows,  where  the  foot  of  man  has  never 
trod.  But  for  some  unknown  reason,  game  has 
always  been  scarce  on  the  east  side  of  Hudson  Bay. 
Legends  of  mines  have  been  told  by  the  Indians,  but 
no  one  has  yet  found  the  mines. 

The  fury  of  Juet  the  rebellious  old  mate,  now 
knew  no  bounds.  The  ship  had  victuals  for  only 
six  months  more.  Here  was  September.  Navigation 
would  hardly  open  in  the  Straits  before  June.  If  the 
boat  did  not  emerge  on  the  South  Sea,  they  would 

57 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

all  be  winter-bound.  The  waters  began  to  shoal  to 
those  dangerous  reefs  on  the  south  where  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  traders  have  lost  so  many  ships.  In 
hoisting  anchor  up,  a  furious  over-sea  knocked  the 
sailors  from  the  capstan.  With  a  rebound  the  heavy 
iron  went  splashing  overboard.  This  was  too  much 
for  Juet.  The  mate  threw  down  his  pole  and  re- 
fused to  serve  longer.  On  September  lo,  Hudson 
was  compelled  to  try  him  for  mutiny.  Juet  was 
deposed  with  loss  of  wages  for  bad  conduct  and 
Robert  Bylot  appointed  in  his  place.  The  trial 
showed  Hudson  he  was  slumbering  over  a  powder 
mine.  Half  the  crew  was  disaffected,  plotting  to 
possess  themselves  of  arms;  but  what  did  plots  mat- 
ter? Hudson  was  following  a  vision  which  his  men 
could  not  see. 

By  this  time,  Hudson  was  several  hundred  miles 
south  of  the  Straits,  and  the  inland  sea  which  he  had 
discovered  did  not  seem  to  be  leading  to  the  Pacific. 
Following  the  south  shore  to  the  westernmost  bay  of 
all — James  Bay  on  the  west — Hudson  recognized 
the  fact  that  it  was  not  the  South  Sea.  The  siren 
of  his  dreams  had  sung  her  fateful  song  till  she  had 
lured  his  hopes  on  the  rocks.  He  was  land-bound 
and  winter-bound  in  a  desolate  region  with  a 
mutinous  crew. 

The  water  was  too  shallow  for  the  boat  to  moor. 


The  famous  hushrant^er  who  raided  the  English  forts  from  New 
England  to  Hudson  Bay  and  rose  to  be  the  first  naval  commander 
of  France. 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


The  men  waded  ashore  to  seek  a  wintering  place. 
Wood  was  found  in  plenty  and  the  footprint  of  a 
savage  seen  in  the  snow.  That  night,  November  2, 
it  snowed  heavily,  and  the  boat  crashed  on  the 
rocks.  For  twelve  hours,  bedlam  reigned,  Juet 
heading  a  party  of  mutineers,  but  next  day  the  storm 
floated  the  keel  free.  By  the  loth  of  November, 
the  ship  was  frozen  in.  To  keep  up  stock  of  provis- 
ions, Hudson  offered  a  reward  for  all  game,  of  which 
there  seemed  an  abundance,  but  when  he  ordered 
the  carpenters  ashore  to  build  winter  quarters,  he 
could  secure  obedience  to  his  commands  only  by 
threatening  to  hang  every  mutineer  to  the  yardarm. 
In  the  midst  of  this  turmoil,  the  gunner  died.  Henry 
Greene,  the  vagabond  secretary,  who  received  no 
wages,  asked  for  the  dead  man's  heavy  great  coat. 
Hudson  granted  the  request.  The  mutineers  re- 
sented the  favoritism,  for  it  was  the  custom  to  auction 
off  a  dead  man's  belongings  at  the  mainmast,  and 
in  the  cold  climate  all  needed  extra  clothing.  Greene 
took  advantage  of  the  apparent  favor  to  shirk  house 
building  and  go  off  to  the  woods  with  a  rebellious 
carpenter  hunting.  Furious,  Hudson  turned  the 
coveted  coat  over  to  Bylot,  the  new  mate. 

So  the  miserable  winter  dragged  on.  Snow  fell 
continuously  day  after  day.  The  frost  giants  set 
the  ice  whooping  and  crackling  every  night  like 

59 


The  Cojiquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

artillery  fire.  A  pall  of  gloom  was  settling  over  the 
ship  that  seemed  to  bemimb  hope  and  benumb  effort. 
Great  numbers  of  birds  were  shot  by  loyal  members 
of  the  crew%  but  the  ship  was  short  of  bread  and  the 
cook  began  to  use  moss  and  the  juice  of  tamarac  as 
antidotes  to  scurvy.  As  winter  closed  in,  the  cold 
grew  more  intense.  Stone  fireplaces  were  built  on 
the  decks  of  the  ship.  Pans  of  shot  heated  red-hot 
were  taken  to  the  berths  as  a  warming  pan.  On  the 
whole,  Hudson  was  fortunate  in  his  wintering 
quarters.  It  was  the  most  sheltered  part  of  the  bay 
and  had  the  greatest  abundance  of  game  to  be  found 
on  that  great  inland  sea.  Also,  there  was  no  lack 
of  firewood.  Farther  north  on  the  west  shore, 
Hudson's  ship  would  have  been  exposed  to  the  east 
winds  and  the  ice-drive.  Here,  he  was  secure  from 
both,  though  the  cold  of  James  Bay  w^as  quite  severe 
enough  to  cover  decks  and  beds  and  bedding  and 
port  windows  with  hoar  frost  an  inch  thick. 

Toward  spring  came  a  timid  savage  to  the  ship 
drawing  furs  on  a  toboggan  for  trade.  He  promised 
to  return  after  so  many  sleeps  from  the  tribes  of  the 
South,  but  time  to  an  Indian  may  mean  this  year  or 
next,  and  he  was  never  again  seen.  As  the  ice  began 
to  break  up  in  May,  Hudson  sent  men  fishing  in  a 
shallop  that  the  carpenters  had  built,  but  the  fisher- 
men plotted  to  escape  in  the  small  boat.     The  next 

60 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


time,  Hudson,  himself,  led  the  fishermen,  threaten- 
ing to  leave  any  man  proved  guilty  of  plots  marooned 
on  the  bay.  It  was  an  unfortunate  threat.  The 
men  remembered  it.  Juet,  the  deposed  mate,  had 
but  caged  his  wrath  and  was  now  joined  by  Henry 
Greene,  the  secretary,  who  had  fallen  from  favor. 
If  these  men  and  their  allies  had  hunted  half  as  in- 
dustriously as  they  plotted,  there  would  have  been 
food  in  plenty,  but  with  half  the  crew  living  idly  on 
the  labors  of  the  others  for  a  winter,  somebody  was 
bound  to  suffer  shortage  of  food  on  the  homeward 
voyage.  The  traitor  thought  was  suggested  by  Henry 
Greene  that  if  Hudson  and  the  loyal  men  were,  them- 
selves, marooned,  the  rest  could  go  home  with  plenty 
of  food  and  no  fear  of  punishment.  The  report  could 
be  spread  that  Hudson  had  died.  Hudson  had 
searched  the  land  in  vain  for  Indians.  All  uncon- 
scious of  the  conspiracy  in  progress,  he  returned  to 
prepare  the  ship  for  the  home  voyage. 

The  rest  of  The  Discovery^ s  record  reads  like  some 
tale  of  piracy  on  the  South  Sea.  Hudson  distributed 
to  the  crew  all  the  bread  that  was  left — a  pound  to 
each  man  without  favoritism.  There  were  tears  in 
his  eyes  and  his  voice  broke  as  he  handed  out  the  last 
of  the  food.  The  same  was  done  with  the  cheese. 
Seamen's  chests  were  then  searched  and  some  pil- 
fered biscuits  distributed.    In  Hudson's  cabin  were 

6i 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

stored  provisions  for  fourteen  days.  These  were  to 
be  used  only  in  the  last  extremity.  As  might  have 
been  expected,  the  idle  mutineers  used  their  food 
without  stint.  The  men  who  would  not  work  were 
the  men  who  would  not  deny  themselves.  When 
Hudson  weighed  anchor  on  June  i8,  1611,  for  the 
homeward  trip,  nine  of  the  best  men  in  the  crew  lay 
ill  in  their  berths  from  overwork  and  privations. 

One  night  Greene  came  to  the  cabin  of  Prickett, 
who  had  acted  as  a  sort  of  agent  for  the  ship's  owners. 
Vowing  to  cut  the  throat  of  any  man  who  betrayed 
him,  Greene  burst  out  in  imprecations  with  a  sort  of 
pot-valour  that"  he  was  going  to  end  it  or  mend  it;  go 
through  with  it  or  die^\'  the  sick  men  were  useless: 
there  were  provisions  for  half  the  crew  but  not 
all 

Prickett  bade  him  stop.  This  was  mutiny.  Mutiny 
was  punished  in  England  by  death.  But  Greene 
swore  he  would  rather  be  hanged  at  home  than  starve 
at  sea. 

In  the  dark,  the  whole  troop  of  mutineers  came 
whining  and  plotting  to  Prickett.  The  boat  was 
only  a  few  days  out  of  winter  quarters  and  embayed 
in  the  ice  half  way  to  the  Straits.  If  such  delays 
continued,  what  were  fourteen  days'  provisions  for  a 
voyage?  Of  all  the  ill  men,  Prickett,  alone,  was  to 
be    spared    to    intercede    for    the    mutineers    with 

62 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


Sir  Dudley  Digges,  his  master.  In  vain,  Prickett 
pleaded  for  Hudson's  life.  Let  them  wait  two  days; 
one  day;  twelve  hours!  They  called  him  a  fool! 
It  was  Hudson's  death,  or  the  death  of  all!  The 
matter  must  be  put  through  while  their  courage  was 
up!  Then  to  add  the  last  touch  to  their  villainy, 
they  swore  on  a  Bible  to  Prickett  that  what  they  con- 
templated was  for  the  object  of  saving  the  lives  of 
the  majority.  Prickett's  defense  for  countenancing 
the  mutiny  is  at  best  the  excuse  of  a  weakling,  a 
scared  fool — he  couldn't  save  Hudson,  so  he  kept 
quiet  to  save  his  own  neck.  It  was  a  black,  windy 
night.  The  seas  were  moaning  against  the  ice 
fields.  As  far  as  human  mind  could  forestall  devilish 
designs,  the  mutineers  were  safe,  for  all  would  be 
alike  guilty  and  so  alike  pledged  to  secrecy.  It  must 
be  remembered,  too,  the  crew  were  impressed  sea- 
men, unwilling  sailors,  the  blackguard  riffraff  of 
London  streets.  If  the  plotters  had  gone  to  bed, 
Prickett  might  have  crawled  above  to  Hudson's 
cabin,  but  the  mutineers  kept  sleepless  vigil  for  the 
night.  At  daybreak  two  had  stationed  themselves 
at  the  hatch,  three  hovered  round  the  door  of  the 
captain's  cabin.  When  Hudson  emerged  from  the 
room,  two  men  leaped  on  him  to  the  fore,  a  third, 
Wilson  the  bo'swain,  caught  and  bound  his  arms 
behind.    When  Hudson  demanded  what  they  meant, 

63 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

they  answered  with  sinister  intent  that  he  would 
know  when  he  was  put  in  the  shallop.  Then,  all 
pretense  that  what  they  did  was  for  the  good  of  the 
crew  was  cast  aside.  They  threw  off  all  disguise 
and  gathered  round  him  with  shouts,  and  jeers,  and 
railings,  and  mockery  of  his  high  ambitions!  It  was 
the  old  story  of  the  Ideal  hooted  by  the  mob,  cruci- 
fied by  little-minded  malice,  misunderstood  by  evil 
and  designing  fools!  The  sick  were  tumbled  out  of 
berths  and  herded  above  decks  till  the  shallop  was 
lowered.  One  man  from  Ipswich  was  given  a  chance 
to  remain  but  begged  to  be  set  adrift.  He  would 
rather  perish  as  a  man  than  live  as  a  thief.  The 
name  of  the  hero  was  Phillip  Staffe.  With  a  run- 
ning commentary  of  curses  from  Henry  Greene, 
Juet,  the  mate,  now  venting  his  pent-up  vials  of 
spleen,  eight  sick  men  were  lowered  into  the  small 
boat  with  Hudson  and  his  son.  Some  one  suggested 
giving  the  castaways  ammunition  and  meal.  Juet 
roared  for  the  men  to  make  haste.  Wilson,  the 
guilty  bo'swain,  got  anchors  up  and  sails  rigged. 
Ammunition,  arms  and  cooking  utensils  were  thrown 
into  the  small  boat.  The  Discovery  then  spread  her 
sails  to  the  wind — a  pirate  ship.  The  tow  rope  of  the 
small  boat  tightened.  She  followed  like  a  despairing 
swimmer,  climbing  over  the  wave-wash  for  a  pace 
or  two;  then  some  one  cut  the  cable.     The  castaways 

64 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


were  adrift.  The  distance  between  the  two  ships 
widened.  Prickett  looking  out  from  his  porthole 
below,  caught  sight  of  Hudson  with  arms  bound  and 
panic-stricken,  angry  face.  As  the  boats  drifted 
apart  the  old  commander  shouted  a  malediction 
against  his  traitor  crew. 

"Juet  will  ruin  you  all " 

"Nay,  but  it  is  that  villain,  Henry  Greene," 
Prickett  yelled  back  through  the  porthole,  and  the 
shallop  fell  away.  Some  miles  out  of  sight  from 
their  victims,  the  mutineers  slackened  pace  to  ran- 
sack the  contents  of  the  ship.  The  shallop  was 
sighted  oars  going,  sails  spread,  coming  over  a  wave 
in  mad  pursuit.  With  guilty  terror  as  if  their  pur- 
suers had  been  ghosts,  the  mutineers  out  with  crowded 
sails  and  fled  as  from  an  avenging  demon !  So  passed 
Henry.  Hudson  down  the  Long  Trail  on  June  21, 
1 611!  Did  he  suffer  that  blackest  of  all  despair — 
loss  of  vision,  of  faith  in  his  dream?  Did  life  sud- 
denly seem  to  him  a  cruel  joke  in  which  he  had 
played  the  part  of  the  fool?    Who  can  tell? 

What  became  of  him?  A  silence  as  of  a  grave  in 
the  sea  rests  over  his  fate.  Barely  the  shadow  of  a 
legend  illumines  his  last  hours;  though  Indians  of 
Hudson  Bay  to  this  day  tell  folk-lore  yarns  of  the 
first  Englishman  who  came  to  the  bay  and  was 
wrecked.    When  Radisson  came  overland  to  the  bay 

65 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  North ivest 

fifty  years  later,  he  found  an  old  house  "all  marked 
by  bullets.''^  Did  Hudson  take  his  last  stand  inside 
that  house?  Did  the  loyal  Ipswich  man  fight  his 
last  fight  against  the  powers  of  darkness  there  where 
the  Goddess  of  Death  lines  her  shores  with  the  bodies 
of  the  dead?  Also,  the  Indians  told  Radisson  childish 
fables  of  a  "ship  with  sails"  having  come  to  the  bay; 
but  many  ships  came  in  those  fifty  years:  Button's 
to  hunt  in  vain  for  Hudson;  Munck,  the  Dane's,  to 
meet  a  fate  worse  than  Hudson's. 

Hudson's  shallop  went  down  to  as  utter  silence  as 
the  watery  graves  of  those  old  sea  Vikings,  who  rode 
out  to  meet  death  on  the  billow.  A  famous  painting 
represents  Hudson  huddled  panic-stricken  with  his 
child  and  the  ragged  castaways  in  a  boat  driving  to 
ruin  among  the  ice  fields.  I  like  better  to  think  as 
we  know  last  of  him — standing  with  bound  arms 
and  face  to  fate,  shouting  defiance  at  the  fleeing 
enemy.  They  could  kill  him,  but  they  could  not 
crush  him!  It  was  more  as  a  Viking  would  have 
liked  to  die.  He  had  left  the  world  benefited  more 
than  he  could  have  dreamed — this  pathfinder  of  two 
empires'  commerce.  He  had  fought  his  fight.  He 
had  done  his  work.  He  had  chased  his  Idea  down 
the  Long  Trail.  What  more  could  the  most  favored 
child  of  the  gods  ask?  With  one's  task  done,  better 
to  die  in  harness  than  rot  in  some  garret  of  obscurity, 

66 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


or  grow  garrulous  in  an  imbecile  old  age — the  fate  of 
so  many  great  benefactors  of  humanity! 

It  needed  no  prophet  to  predict  the  end  of  the 
pirate  ship  with  such  a  crew.  They  quarreled  over 
who  should  be  captain.  They  quarreled  over  who 
should  be  mate.  They  quarreled  over  who  should 
keep  the  ship's  log.  They  lost  themselves  in  the  fog, 
and  ran  amuck  of  icebergs  and  disputed  whether  they 
should  sail  east  or  west,  whether  they  had  passed 
Cape  Digges  leading  out  of  the  Straits,  whether  they 
should  turn  back  south  to  seek  the  South  Sea.  They 
were  like  children  lost  in  the  dark.  They  ran  on 
rocks,  and  lay  ice-bound  with  no  food  but  dried  sea 
moss  and  soup  made  of  candle  grease  boiled  with 
the  offal  left  from  partridge.  Ice  hid  the  Straits. 
They  steered  past  the  outlet  and  now  steered  back 
only  to  run  on  a  rock  near  the  pepper-colored  sands 
of  Cape  Digges.  Flood  tide  set  them  free.  They 
wanted  to  land  and  hunt  but  were  afraid  to  approach 
the  coast  and  sent  in  the  small  boats.  It  was  the 
28th  of  July.  As  they  neared  the  breeding  ground 
of  the  birds,  Eskimo  kyacks  came  swarming  over 
the  waves  toward  them.  That  day,  the  whites  rested 
in  the  Indian  tents.  The  next  day  Henry  Greene 
hurried  ashore  with  six  men  to  secure  provisions. 
Five  men  had  landed  to  gather  scurvy  (sorrel)  grass 
and  trade  with  the  fifty  Indians  along  the  shore. 

67 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  NortJiwcst 

Prickett  being  lame  remained  alone  in  the  small 
boat.  Noticing  an  Eskimo  boarding  the  boat, 
Prickett  stood  up  and  peremptorily  ordered  the 
savage  ashore.  When  he  sat  down,  what  was  his 
horror  to  find  himself  seized  from  behind,  with  a 
knife  stroke  grazing  his  breast.  Eskimo  carry  their 
knives  by  strings.  Prickett  seized  the  string  in  his 
left  hand  and  so  warded  off  the  blow.  With  his 
right  hand  he  got  his  own  dagger  out  of  belt  and 
stabbed  the  assailant  dead.  On  shore,  Wilson  the 
bo'swain,  and  another  man  had  been  cut  to  pieces. 
Striking  off  the  Indians  with  a  club,  Greene,  the 
ringleader,  tumbled  to  the  boat  with  a  death  wound. 
The  other  two  men  leaped  down  the  rocks  into  the 
boat.  A  shower  of  arrows  followed,  killing  Greene 
outright  and  wounding  the  other  three.  One  of  the 
rowers  fainted.  The  others  signaled  the  ship  for 
aid,  and  were  rescued.  Greene's  body  was  thrown 
into  the  sea  without  shroud  or  shrift.  Of  the  other 
three,  two  died  in  agonies.  This  encounter  left  only 
four  well  men  to  man  the  ship  home.  They  landed 
twice  among  the  numberless  lonely  islands  that  line 
the  Straits  and  hunted  partridge  and  sea  moss  for 
food.  Before  they  had  left  the  Straits,  they  were 
down  to  rations  of  half  a  bird  a  day.  In  mid-ocean 
they  were  grateful  for  the  garbage  of  the  cook's 
barrel.     Juet,  the  old  mate,  died  of  starvation  in 

68 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


sight  of  Ireland.  The  other  men  became  so  weak 
they  could  not  stand  at  the  helm.  Sails  ilapped  to 
the  wind  in  tatters.  Masts  snapped  off  short. 
Splintered  yardarms  hung  in  the  ragged  rigging.  It 
was  like  an  ocean  derelict,  or  a  haunted  craft  with 
a  maimed  crew.  In  September,  land  was  sighted 
off  Ireland  and  the  joyful  cry  of  "a  sail"  raised;  but 
a  ship  manned  by  only  four  men  with  a  tale  of  dis- 
aster, which  could  not  be  explained,  aroused  sus- 
picion. The  Discovery  was  shunned  by  the  j5sher 
folk.  Only  by  pawning  the  ship's  furniture  could 
the  crew  obtain  food,  sailors  and  pilot  to  take  them 
to  Plymouth.  Needless  to  say,  the  survivors  were 
at  once  clapped  in  prison  and  Sir  Thomas  Button 
sent  to  hunt  for  Hudson ;  but  Hudson  had  passed  to 
his  unknown  grave  leaving  as  a  monument  the  two 
great  pathways  of  traffic,  which  he  found — Hudson 
River  and  the  northern  inland  sea,  which  may  yet 
prove  the  Baltic  of  America. 

DATA   FOR   HUDSON'S   VOYAGES 

Purchas'  Pilgrims  contains  the  bulk  Of  the  data  regarding 
Hudson's  voyages.  The  account  of  the  first  voyage  is  written 
by  Hudson,  himself,  and  by  one  of  the  company,  John  Plavse, 
Playse  presumably  completing  the  log-book  directly  from  Hud- 
son's journal.  This  is  supplemented  by  facts  taken  from 
Hudson's  manuscripts  (long  since  lost)  now  to  be  found  in 
Edge's  Discovery  of  the  Muscovy  Merchants  (Purchas  iii,  464) 
and  Fotherby's  statement  concerning  Hudson's  journals  (Pur- 
chas III,  730),  the  whole  being  concisely  stated  with  ample 
proofs  in  the  Hakluyt  Society's  i860  publication  on  Hudson  by 

69 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


Doctor  Asher.  The  account  of  the  second  voyage  is  given  by 
Hudson,  himself.  On  the  third  voyage,  the  Journal  was  kept 
by  Juet,  the  mate.  The  story  of  the  last  voyage  is  told  in  An 
Abstract  of  Hudson's  Journals  down  to  August  1610;  and  in  an 
account  written  by  that  Prickett  who  joined  the  mutineers, 
plainly  to  excuse  his  own  conduct.  Matter  supplementary  to 
the  third  voyage  may  be  found  outside  Piirchas  in  such  Dutch 
authorities  as  Van  Meteren  and  De  Lact  and  Lanibrcchtsen  and 
Van  der  Donck.  Also  in  Heckewelder  and  Hcsscl  Gcrritz.  Every 
American  historian  who  has  dealt  with  the  discovery  of  Hudson 
River  draws  his  data  from  these  sources.  Yates,  Moulton, 
O'Callaghan,  Brodhead  are  the  earliest  of  the  old  American 
authorities.  Supplementary  matter  concerning  the  fourth  and 
last  voyage  is  to  be  found  in  almost  any  account  of  Arctic 
voyaging  in  America,  though  nothing  new  is  added  to  what  is 
told  by  Hudson,  himself,  and  by  Prickett.  Both  the  New  York 
Historical  Society  and  the  Hakliiyt  Society  of  England  have  pub- 
lished excellent  and  complete  transcripts  of  Hudson's  Voyages 
with  translations  of  all  foreign  data  bearing  on  them  including 
the  voyages  of  Estevan  Gomez  and  Verrazano  past  New  York 
harbor.  For  data  bearing  on  the  navigation  of  Hudson  Straits, 
the  two  reports  of  the  Canadian  Government  on  two  expeditions 
sent  to  ascertain  the  feasibility  of  such  a  route — are  excellent ; 
but  not  so  good,  not  so  detailed  and  beautifully  unguarded  as 
the  sailing  records  kept  by  the  old  sea  captains  in  the  service  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  furriers.  The  Government  reports  are  too 
guarded.  Besides,  the  ships  stayed  only  one  season  in  the 
straits;  but  these  old  fur  company  captains  sailed  as  often  as 
forty  times  to  the  bay — eighty  times  in  all  through  the  straits: 
and  I  have  availed  myself  of  Captain  Coat's  sailing  directions 
especially.  In  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  Archives,  London, 
are  literally  shelf  loads  of  such  directions.  That  modern  enter- 
prise will  ultimately  surmount  all  difficulties  of  navigation  in 
the  straits  cannot  be  doubted.  What  man  sets  himself  to  do 
— he  does;  but  the  difficulties  are  not  child's  play,  nor  imaginary 
ones  created  by  politicians  who  oppose  a  Hudson  Bay  route  to 
Europe.  One  has  only  to  read  the  record  of  three  hundred 
years'  sailing  by  the  fur  traders  to  realize  that  the  straits  arc 
— to  put  it  mildly — a  trap  for  ocean  goers.  Still  it  is  interesting 
to  note,  it  is  typical  of  the  dauntless  spirit  of  the  North,  that  a 
railroad  is  actually  being  built  toward  Hudson  Bay.  Not  the 
bay,  but  the  straits,  will  be  the  crux  of  the  difficulty. 

When  I  speak  of  "Wreckers'  Reef"  Sable  Island,  it  is  not  a 
figure  of  speech,  hut  a  fact  of  those  early  days — that  false  lights 
were  often  placed  on  Sable  Island  to  lure  ships  on  the  sand 
reefs.  Men,  who  waded  ashore,  were  clubbed  to  death  by 
pirates:     See  Canadian  Archives. 

70 


Hudson's  Fourth  Voyage 


The  Indian  legends  of  Hudson's  Voyage  to  New  York  are  to 
be  found  in  early  missionary  annals:  see  New  York  History, 
iSii. 

The  report  of  the  Canadian  Geologic  Survey  of  Baffins  Land 
and  the  North  was  issued  by  Mr.  A.  P.  Low  as  I  completed  this 
volume. 

All  authorities — as  seen  by  the  map — place  Hudson's  win- 
tering quarters  off  Rupert  River.  From  the  Journals,  it  seems 
to  me,  he  went  as  far  west  as  he  could  go,  and  did  not  come 
back  east,  which  would  make  his  wintering  quarters  off  Moose. 
This  would  explain  "the  old  house  battered  with  bullets," 
which  Radisson  records. 

My  authority  for  data  on  Moose  Factory  is  Bishop  Horden. 


71 


CHAPTER  V 
1619 

THE  ADVENTtnRES  OF  THE  DANES  ON  HUDSON  BAY 
— JENS  MUNCK'S  crew 

THOUGH  Admiral  Sir  Thomas  Button 
came  out  the  very  next  year  after  Hud- 
son's death  to  follow  up  his  discoveries 
and  search  for  the  lost  mariner — the  sea  gave  up  no 
message  of  its  dead.  Button  wintered  on  the  bay 
(161 2-13)  at  Port  Nelson,  which  he  discovered  and 
named  after  his  mate  who  died  there.  With  him 
had  come  Prickett  and  Bylot  of  Hudson's  crew. 
Hudson's  old  ship,  The  Discovery,  was  used  with  a 
larger  frigate  called  The  Resolution.  No  sooner  had 
the  ships  gone  into  winter  quarters  on  the  west  coast 
at  Port  Nelson  than  scurvy  infected  the  camp.  The 
seaport  which  was  destined  to  become  the  great 
emporium  of  the  fur  trade  for  three  hundred  years 
— became  literally  a  camp  of  the  dead.  So  many 
seamen  died  of  scurvy  and  cold,  that  Button  had 
not  enough  sailors  to  man  both  vessels  home.  The 
big  one  was  abandoned,  and  for  a  second  time  Hud- 
son's ship.  The  Discovery,  carried  back  disheartened 

72 


The  Adventures  of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 

survivors  to  England.  Button's  long  absence  had 
raised  hopes  that  he  had  found  passage  westward 
to  the  South  Sea.  These  hopes  were  dashed,  but 
English  endeavor  did  not  cease. 

In  1 6 14,  a  Captain  Gibbon  was  dispatched  to  the 
bay.  Ice  caught  him  at  Labrador.  Here,  he  was 
held  prisoner  for  the  summer.  Again  hopes  were 
dashed,  but  national  greatness  sometimes  consists 
in  sheer  dogged  persistence.  The  English  adven- 
turers, who  had  sent  Button  and  Gibbon,  now  fitted 
out  Bylot,  Hudson's  former  mate.  With  him  went 
a  young  man  named  Bafhn.  These  two  spent  two 
years,  1615-1616,  on  the  bay.  They  found  no  trace 
of  Pludson.  They  found  no  passage  to  the  South 
Sea,  but  cruised  those  vast  islands  of  ice  and  rock 
on  the  north  to  which  Baffin's  name  has  been  given. 

The  English  treasure  seekers  and  adventurers  of 
the  high  seas  took  a  breathing  space.  Where  Eng- 
land left  off,  the  trail  of  discovery  was  taken  up  by 
little  Denmark.  Norse  sailors  had  been  the  first  to 
belt  the  seas.  Before  Columbus  was  born,  Norse- 
men had  coasted  the  ice  fields  from  Iceland  to  Green- 
land and  Greenland  to  the  Vinelands  and  Mark- 
lands  farther  south,  supposed  to  be  Nova  Scotia 
and  Rhode  Island.  The  lost  colonies  of  eastern 
Greenland  had  become  the  folk-lore  of  Danish 
fireside. 

73 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

King  Christian  IV,  himself,  examined  the  charts 
and  supervised  the  outfitting  of  two  ships  for  dis- 
covery in  America.  The  Unicorn,  named  after  a 
species  of  whale,  was  a  frigate  with  a  crew  of  forty- 
eight  including  chaplain  and  surgeon.  The  Lam- 
prey was  a  little  sloop  with  sixteen  of  a  crew.  There 
remained  the  choice  of  a  commander  and  that  fell 
without  question  on  the  fittest  man  in  the  Danish 
navy — Jens  Munck,  such  a  soldier  of  fortune  as  the 
novelist  might  delight  to  portray. 

Munck's  father  was  a  nobleman,  who  had  sui- 
cided in  prison,  disgraced  for  misuse  of  public  funds. 
Munck's  mother  was  left  destitute.  At  twelve  years 
of  age  Jens  was  thrown  on  the  world.  Like  a  true 
soldier  of  fortune,  he  took  fate  by  the  beard  and 
shipped  as  a  common  sailor  to  seek  his  fortunes  in  the 
New  World.  When  a  mere  boy,  he  chanced  to  be 
off  Brazil  on  a  Dutch  merchant  ship.  Here,  he  had 
his  first  bout  with  fate.  The  Dutch  vessel  was  at- 
tacked off  Bahia  by  the  French  and  totally  destroyed. 
Of  all  the  crew,  seven  only  escaped  by  plunging  into 
the  water  and  swimming  ashore  in  the  dark.  Of 
the  seven  survivors,  the  Danish  boy  was  one.  He 
had  succeeded  in  reaching  shore  by  clinging  to  bits 
of  wreckage  through  the  chopping  seas.  Half 
drowned,  friendless,  crawling  ashore  like  a  bedrag- 
gled water  rat,  here  was  the  boy,  utterly  alone  in  a 

74 


Iberville's  Ship  run  aground  off  Nelson  in  a  Hurricane — 
from  La  Potherie. 


The  Adventures  of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 

strange  land  among  a  strange  people  speaking  a 
strange  tongue. 

Such  an  experience  would  have  set  most  boys 
swallowing  a  lump  in  their  throat.  The  little  Dane 
was  too  glad  to  get  the  water  out  of  his  throat  and 
to  set  his  feet  on  dry  land  for  any  such  nonsense. 
For  a  year  he  worked  with  a  shoemaker  for  his 
board,  and  incidentally  picked  up  a  knowledge  of 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  over  the  cobbler's  last. 
The  most  of  young  Danish  noblemen  gained  such 
knowledge  from  tutors  and  travel.  Then  Munck 
became  apprentice  to  a  house  painter.  Not  a  yelp 
against  fate  did  the  plucky  young  castaway  utter, 
and  what  is  more  marvel,  he  did  not  lose  his  head 
and  let  it  sink  to  the  place  where  a  young  gentle- 
man's feet  ought  to  be — namely  the  pavement. 
Toiling  for  his  daily  bread  among  the  riffraff  and 
ruff-scuff  of  a  foreign  port,  Munck  kept  his  head  up 
and  his  face  to  the  future;  and  at  last  came  his 
chance. 

Munck  was  now  about  eighteen  years  old.  Some 
Dutch  vessels  had  come  to  Bahia  without  a  license 
for  trade.  Munck  overheard  that  the  harbor  au- 
thorities intended  to  confiscate  both  vessels.  It 
was  Munck's  opportunity  to  escape,  and  he  seized 
it  with  both  hands.  Jostling  among  the  sailors  of 
the  water-front,  keeping  his  intentions  to  himself, 

75 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Munck  waited  till  it  was  dark.  Then,  he  stripped, 
tied  his  clothes  to  his  back,  and  swam  out  to  warn 
the  Dutch  of  their  danger.  The  vessels  escaped  and 
carried  Munck  with  them  to  Europe.  Within  five 
years  he  was  sailing  ships  for  himself  to  Iceland 
and  Nova  Zembla  and  Russia — keeping  up  that  old 
trick  of  picking  up  odds  and  ends,  knowledge  of 
people  and  things  and  languages  wherever  he  went. 
Before  he  was  thirty  he  had  joined  the  Danish  navy 
and  was  appointed  to  conduct  embassies  to  Spain, 
and  Russia  where  his  knowledge  of  foreign  lan- 
guages held  good.  When  the  traders  of  Copenhagen 
and  King  Christian  looked  for  a  commander  to 
explore  and  colonize  Hudson  Bay,  Munck  was  the 
man. 

Sunday,  May  i6,  1619,  the  ships  that  were  to  add 
a  second  Russia  to  Denmark,  sailed  for  Hudson 
Bay.  Sailors  the  world  over  hate  the  Northern  seas. 
Some  of  Munck's  crews  must  have  been  impressed 
men,  for  one  fellow  promptly  jumped  overboard 
and  suicided  rather  than  go  on.  Another  died  from 
natural  causes,  so  Munck  put  into  Norway  for  three 
extra  men. 

Greenland  was  sighted  in  twenty  days — a  quick 
run  in  those  times  and  evidence  that  Munck  was  a 
swift  sailor,  who  took  all  risks  and  pushed  ahead  at 

76 


The  Adventures  of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 

any  cost,  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  fur  trade  captains 
considered  seven  weeks  quick  time  from  London 
to  the  Straits  of  Hudson  Bay.  A  current  sweeps 
south  from  Greenland.  Lashing  his  ships  abreast, 
Munck  ran  into  the  center  of  a  great  field  of  soft 
slob  ice,  that  would  keep  the  big  bergs  ofif  and  pro- 
tect the  hulls  from  rough  seas.  Then  lowering  all 
sails,  he  drifted  with  the  ice  drive.  It  came  on  to 
blow.  Slob  ice  held  the  ships  safe,  but  sleet  iced 
the  rigging  and  deck  till  they  were  like  glass  and 
life  lines  had  to  be  stretched  from  side  to  side  to 
give  hand  hold,  every  wave- wash  sending  the  sailors 
slithering  over  the  icy  decks  as  if  on  skates.  Icicles 
as  long  as  a  man's  arm  would  form  on  the  cross- 
trees  in  a  single  night.  The  ropes  became  like 
bolts — cracking  when  they  were  bent,  but  when  the 
heat  of  mid-day  came,  both  ships  were  in  a  drip  of 
thaw. 

What  with  the  slow  pace  of  the  ice  drift  and  the 
heaviness  of  the  ships  from  becoming  ice-logged,  it 
was  the  middle  of  July  before  they  reached  the 
Straits.  Eskimos  swarmed  down  to  the  islands  of 
Ungava  Bay,  but  seemed  afraid  to  trade  with 
Munck's  crew.  It  was  on  one  of  the  islands  here 
that  the  Eskimo  two  centuries  later  massacred  an 
entire  crew  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company  fur  traders, 
who  had  been  wrecked  by  the  ice  jam  and  escaped 

77 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

across  the  floes  to  the  island.  It  was,  perhaps,  as 
well  for  Munck  that  the  treacherous  natives  took 
themselves  off,  bounding  over  the  waves  in  skin 
boats,  so  light  they  could  be  carried  by  one  hand 
over  the  ice  floes.  The  collision  of  the  Atlantic  tide 
with  the  eastward  flowing  current  of  the  Straits 
created  such  a  furious  sea  as  IMunck  had  never  seen. 
It  was  no  longer  safe  to  keep  The  Lamprey  lashed 
to  the  frigate,  for  one  wave  wash  caused  by  an  over- 
turning iceberg  lifted  the  little  ship  almost  on  the 
masts  of  The  Unicorn. 

The  ships  then  began  worming  their  way  slowly 
through  the  ice  drift.  A  grapnel  would  be  thrown 
out  on  an  ice  floe.  Up  to  this,  the  ships  would  haul 
by  ropes.  Both  crews  stood  on  guard  at  the  deck 
rails  with  the  long  iron-shod  ice  poles  in  their  hands, 
prodding  and  shoving  off  the  huge  masses  when  the 
ice  threatened  a  crush.  Six  hours  ebb  and  six 
hours  flow  was  the  rate  of  the  tide,  but  where  the 
Straits  narrowed  and  the  inflow  beat  against  the  ice 
jam,  the  incoming  tide  would  sometimes  last  as  long 
as  nine  hours.  This  was  the  time  of  greatest  danger, 
for  beaten  between  tide  and  ice,  the  Straits  became 
a  raging  whirlpool.  It  was  then  the  ships  had  to 
sheer  away  from  the  lashing  undertow  of  the  big 
bergs  and  stood  out  unsheltered  to  the  crush  and 
jam  of  the  drive.    Sometimes,  a  breeze  and  open 

78 


The  Adventures  of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 

passage  gave  them  free  way  from  the  danger.  At 
other  times,  the  maelstrom  of  the  advancing  tide 
caught  them  in  dead  calm.  Then  the  men  had  to 
leap  out  on  the  icepan  and  tow  the  ships  away. 
Soaked  to  their  armpits  in  ice  water,  toiling  night  and 
day,  one  day  exposed  to  heat  that  was  almost  tropi- 
cal, the  next  enveloped  in  a  blizzard  of  sleet,  the  two 
crews  began  to  show  the  effects  of  such  terrible  work. 
They  were  so  completely  worn  out,  Munck  anchored 
on  the  north  shore  to  let  them  rest.  At  Icy  Cove 
off  Baffin's  Land,  one  seaman — Andrew  Staffreanger 
— died.  Where  he  was  buried,  Munck  remarked 
that  the  soil  showed  signs  of  mica  and  ore.  To-day 
— it  is  interesting  to  note — those  mica  mines  are 
being  worked  in  Baffin's  Land. 

One  night  toward  the  end  of  July,  ice  swept  on 
the  ships  from  both  sides.  Suddenly  the  crew  were 
tumbled  from  their  berths  by  the  dull  rumbling  as 
of  an  earthquake.  The  boards  of  the  cabin  floors 
had  sprung.  Ice  had  heaped  higher  than  the  yard- 
arms — the  ships  were  like  toys,  the  sport  of  grim 
Northern  giants.  When  the  ships  were  examined, 
a  gash  was  found  in  the  keel  of  The  Lamprey  from 
stem  to  stern  as  broad  as  one's  hand.  Barely  was 
this  mended  when  the  rudder  was  smashed  from 
The  Unicorn.  A  great  icepan  tossed  up  on  end 
and  shivered  down  in  splinters  that  crashed  over 

79 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  decks  like  glass.  A  moment  later  a  rolling  sea 
swept  the  ships,  sending  the  sailors  sprawling,  while 
the  scuppers  spouted  a  cataract  of  waters.  Munck 
felt  beaten.  Again  he  ran  to  the  north  shore  for 
shelter.  While  the  sailors  rested,  the  chaplain  held 
services  and  made  ''offerings  to  God"  beseeching 
His  help.  Munck,  meanwhile,  went  ashore  and  set 
up  the  arms  of  the  Danish  King — a  superfluous 
proceeding,  as  Baffin  had  already  set  up  the  arms 
of  England  here. 

On  the  ebb  of  the  tide  the  sea  calmed,  and  Munck 
succeeded  in  passing  the  most  dangerous  part  of 
the  Straits — the  Second  Narrows.  An  east  wind 
cleared  the  sea  of  ice.  Sails  full  blown,  Munck's 
ships  shot  out  on  the  open  water  of  Hudson  Bay 
in  the  first  week  of  September.  Munck  was  six 
weeks  traversing  the  Straits.  It  should  not  have 
taken  longer  than  one. 

The  storm  pursued  Munck  clear  across  the  bay. 
The  ships  parted.  Through  the  hurricane  of  sleet, 
the  man  at  the  masthead  discerned  land.  A  small 
creek  seemed  to  open  on  the  long,  low,  sandy  shore. 
Through  the  lashing  breakers  The  Unicorn  steered 
for  the  haven.  A  sunken  rock  protruded  in  mid- 
current.  Munck  sheered  off,  entered,  drove  up- 
stream and  found  himself  in  a  land-locked  lagoon 

80 


The  Adventures  of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 

such  as  he  could  not  have  discovered  elsewhere  on 
the  bay  if  he  had  searched  every  foot  of  its  shores. 
By  chance,  the  storm  had  driven  him  into  the  finest 
port  of  Hudson  Bay,  called  by  the  Indians,  River-of- 
the-Strangers  or  Danish  River,  now  known  as 
Churchill. 

Heaving  out  all  anchors,  the  toil-worn  Danes 
rested  and  thanked  God  for  the  deliverance.  But 
the  little  Lamprey  was  still  out,  and  the  storm  raged 
unabated  for  four  days.  Taking  advantage  of  the 
ebb  tide,  the  men  waded  ashore  in  the  dark  and 
kindled  fires  of  driftwood  to  guide  The  Lamprey  to 
the  harbor.  At  Churchill,  the  land  runs  out  in  a 
long  fine  cape  now  known  as  Eskimo  Point.  Here 
signal  fires  were  kept  burning  and  Munck  watched 
for  the  lost  ship.  Such  a  wind  raged  as  blew  the 
men  off  their  legs,  but  the  air  cleared,  and  on  the 
morning  of  September  9,  the  peak  of  a  sail  was 
seen  rising  over  the  tumbling  billows.  The  sailors 
of  The  Unicorn  ran  up  their  ensign,  hurrahed  and 
heaped  more  driftwood.  By  night  the  little  Lamprey 
came  beating  over  the  waves  and  shot  into  the  harbor 
with  flying  colors. 

The  Danes  were  astonished  at  the  fury  of  the  ele- 
ments so  early  in  the  season.  Snow  flew  through 
the  air  in  particles  as  fine  as  sand  with  the  sting  of 
bird-shot.    When  the  east  wind  blew,  ice  drove  up 

81 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  harbor  that  tore  strips  in  the  ship's  hull  the 
depth  of  a  finger.  Munck  moved  farther  up  stream 
to  a  point  since  known  as  Munck's  Cove. 

To-day  there  are  no  forests  within  miles  from 
the  rocky  wastes  of  Churchill,  but  at  that  time,  the 
country  was  timbered  to  the  water's  edge,  and 
during  the  ebb  tide  the  men  constructed  a  log  jam  or 
ice-break  around  the  ship.  Bridge  piles  were  driven 
in  the  freezing  ooze.  Timber  and  rocks  were  thrown 
inside  these  around  the  hulls.  Six  hawsers  moored 
each  ship  to  the  rocks  and  trees  of  the  main  shore. 
Men  were  kept  pumping  the  water  out  of  the  holds, 
while  others  mended  the  leaky  keels. 

It  was  October  before  this  work  was  completed. 
Then  Munck  and  his  ofiicers  looked  about  them. 
Plainly,  they  must  winter  here.  Ice  was  closing 
the  harbor.  Inland,  the  region  seemed  bound- 
less— a  second  Russia;  and  the  Danish  officers 
dreamed  of  a  vast  trans-atlantic  colony  that  would 
place  Denmark  among  the  great  nations  of  the 
earth. 

Three  great  fireplaces  of  rock  were  constructed 
on  the  decks.  Then,  every  scrap  of  clothing  in  the 
cargoes  was  distributed  to  the  crews.  Used  to  the 
damp  temperate  climate  of  Denmark,  the  men  were 
simply  paralyzed  by  the  hard,  dry,  tense  cold  of 
America  and  had  no  idea  how  to  protect  themselves 


The  Adventures  of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 

against  it.  Later  navigators  compelled  to  winter  in 
Churchill,  have  boarded  up  their  decks  completely, 
tar-papered  the  sealed  boarding  and  outside  of  this 
packed  three  feet  of  solid  snow.  Had  Munck's  men 
used  furs  instead  of  happing  themselves  up  with 
clothing,  that  only  impeded  circulation,  they  might 
have  wintered  safely  with  their  miserable  make- 
shifts of  outdoor  fireplaces,  but  they  had  no  furs, 
and  as  the  cold  increased  could  do  nothing  but 
huddle  helpless  and  benumbed  around  the  fires, 
plying  more  wood  and  heating  shot  red-hot  to  put 
in  warming  pans  for  their  berths. 

Beer  bottles  were  splintered  to  shivers  by  the 
frost.  Most  of  the  phials  in  the  surgeon's  medicine 
chests  went  to  pieces  in  nightly  pistol-shot  explo- 
sions. Kegs  of  light  wines  were  frozen  solid  and 
burst  their  hoops.  The  crews  went  to  their  beds 
for  v/armth  and  night  after  night  lay  listening  to 
the  whooping  and  crackling  of  the  frost,  the  shriek- 
ing of  the  wind,  the  pounding  of  the  ice — as  if  giants 
had  been  gamboling  in  the  dark  of  the  wild  Northern 
storms.  The  rest  of  Munck's  adventures  may  be 
told  in  his  own  words: 

October  15 — Last  night,  ice  drift  lifted  the  ship  out  of 
the  dock.  At  next  low  water  I  had  the  space  filled  with 
clay  and  sand. 

October  30 — Ice  everywhere  covers  the  river.    There 

83 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

is  such  a  heavy  fall  of  snow,  it  is  impossible  for  the  men 
to  go  into  the  open  country  without  snowshoes. 

November  14— Last  night  a  large  black  dog  came  to 
the  ship  across  the  ice  but  the  man  on  the  watch  shot  him 
by  mistake  for  a  black  fox.  I  should  have  been  glad  to 
have  caught  him  alive  and  sent  him  home  with  a  present 
of  goods  for  liis  o\\Tier. 

November  27 — All  the  glass  bottles  broken  to  pieces 
by  the  frost. 

December  10 — The  moon  appeared  in  an  ecHpse.  It  was 
surrounded  by  a  large  circle  and  a  cross  appeared  therein. 

December  12 — One  of  my  surgeons  died  and  his  corpse 
had  to  remain  unburied  for  two  days  because  the  frost 
was  so  terrible  no  one  dared  go  on  shore. 

December  24,  25— Christmas  Eve,  I  gave  the  men  wine 
and  beer,  which  they  had  to  boil,  for  it  was  frozen  to  the 
bottom.  All  very  jolly  but  no  one  offended  with  as  much 
as  a  word.  Holy  Christmas  Day  we  all  celebrated  as  a 
Christian's  duty  is.  We  had  a  sermon,  and  after  the 
sermon  we  gave  the  priest  an  offertory  according  to  ancient 
custom.  There  was  not  much  money  among  the  men, 
but  they  gave  what  they  had,  some  white  fox  skins  for  the 
priest  to  line  his  coat. 

January  i,  New  Year's  Day — Tremendous  frost.  I 
ordered  a  couple  of  pints  of  wine  to  the  bowl  of  every  man 
to  keep  up  spirits. 

January  10 — The  priest  and  the  other  surgeon  took  to 
their  beds.  A  violent  sickness  rages  among  the  men. 
My  head  cook  died. 

January  21 — Thirteen  of  us  down  with  sickness.  I 
asked  the  surgeon,  who  was  lying  mortally  ill,  whether 
any  remedy  might  be  found  in  his  chest.  He  answered 
he  had  used  as  many  remedies  as  he  knew  and  if  God 
would  not  help,  there  was  no  remedy. 

84 


The  Adventures  of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 

It  need  scarcely  be  explained  that  lack  of  exercise 
and  fresh  vegetables  had  brought  scurvy  on  Munck's 
crew.  In  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  the 
pestilence  was  ascribed  not  to  man's  fault  but  to 
God's  Will. 

January  23 — This  day  died  my  mate,  Hans  Brock,  who 
had  been  in  bed  five  months.  The  priest  sat  up  in  his 
berth  to  preach  the  sermon,  which  was  the  last  he  ever 
gave  on  this  earth. 

January  25 — Had  the  small  minute  guns  discharged  in 
honor  of  my  mate's  burial,  but  so  exceedingly  brittle  had 
the  iron  become  from  frost  that  the  cannon  exploded. 

February  5 — More  deaths.  I  again  sent  to  the  surgeon 
for  God's  sake  to  do  something  to  allay  sickness,  but  he 
only  answered  as  before,  if  God  did  not  help  there  was  no 
hope. 

February  16 — Nothing  but  sickness  and  death.  Only 
seven  persons  now  in  health  to  do  the  necessary  work. 
On  this  day  died  a  seaman,  who  was  as  filthy  in  his  habits 
as  an  untrained  beast. 

February  17 — Twenty  persons  have  died. 

February  20 — In  the  evening,  died  the  priest.  Have 
had  to  mind  the  cabin  myself,  for  my  servant  is  also 
ill. 

March  30  —  Sharp  frost.  Now  begins  my  greatest 
misery.  I  am  like  a  lonely  wild  bird,  running  to  and  fro 
waiting  on  the  sick. 

April  I  St — Died  my  nephew,  Eric  Munck,  and  was 
buried  in  the  same  grave  as  my  second  mate.  Not  one 
of  us  is  well  enough  to  fetch  water  and  fuel.  Have  begun 
to  break  up  our  small  boats  for  fuel.  It  is  with  great  diffi- 
culty I  can  get  coffins  made. 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

April  13 — Took  a  bath  in  a  wine-cask  in  which  I  had 
mixed  all  the  herbs  I  could  find  in  the  surgeon's  chest, 
which  did  us  all  much  good. 

April  14 — Only  four  beside  myself  able  to  sit  up  and 
Usten  to  the  sermon  for  Good  Friday,  which  I  read. 

May  6 — Died  John  Watson,  my  EngUsh  mate.  The 
bodies  of  the  dead  lie  uncovered  because  none  of  us  has 
strength  to  bury  them. 

Doom  seemed  to  settle  over  the  ship  v^^hen  Munck, 
himself,  fell  ill  in  June.  On  the  floor  beside  his 
berth,  lay  the  cook's  boy  dead.  In  the  steerage 
were  the  corpses  of  three  other  men.  On  the  deck 
lay  three  more  dead,  ''for"  —  records  Munck — 
"nobody  had  strength  to  throw  them  overboard." 
Besides  himself,  two  men  only  had  survived.  These 
had  managed  to  crawl  ashore  during  ebb  tide  and 
had  not  strength  to  come  back. 

Spring  had  come  with  the  flood  rush  that  set  the 
ice  free.  Wild  geese  and  duck  and  plover  and  cur- 
lew and  cranes  and  tern  were  winging  north.  Day 
after  day  from  his  port  window  the  commander 
watched  the  ice  floes  drifting  out  to  sea;  drifting 
endlessly  as  though  from  some  vast  inland  region 
where  lay  an  unclaimed  empire,  or  a  passage  to  the 
South  Sea.  Song  birds  flitted  to  the  ship  and  darted 
fearfully  away.  Crows  perched  on  the  yardarms. 
Hawks  circled  ominously  above  the  lifeless  masts. 
Herds  of  deer  dashed  past  ashore  pursued  by  the 

86 


The  Adventures  of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 

hungry  wolves,  who  gave  over  the  chase,  stopped  to 
sniff  the  air  and  came  down  to  the  water's  edge 
howling  all  night  across  the  oozy  flats.  More 
.  .  .  need  not  be  told.  The  ships  were  a  pest 
house;  the  region,  a  realm  of  death;  the  port,  a 
place  accursed;  the  silence,  as  of  the  grave  but  for 
the  flacker  of  vulture  wings  and  the  lapping — the 
tireless  lapping  of  the  tide  that  had  borne  this  hap- 
less crew  to  the  shores  of  death.  Artist  brush  has 
never  drawn  any  picture  half  so  terrible  as  the  fate 
of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay.  .  .  .  Nor  need 
the  symptoms  of  scurvy  be  described.  Salt  diet  and 
lack  of  exercise  caused  overwhelming  depression, 
mental  and  physical.  The  stimulants  that  Munck 
plied — two  pints  of  wine  and  a  pint  of  whiskey  a 
day — only  increased  the  languor.  Nausea  rendered 
the  thought  of  food  unendurable.  Joints  swelled. 
Limbs  became  discolored.     The  teeth  loosened  and 

a  spongy  growth  covered  the  gums 

Four  days  Munck  lay  without  food.  Reaching 
to  a  table,  he  penned  his  last  words: 

"As  I  have  now  no  more  hope  of  life  in  this  world,  I 
request  for  the  sake  of  God  if  any  Christians  should 
happen  to  come  here,  they  will  bury  my  poor  body  together 
with  the  others  found,  and  this  my  journal,  forward  to  the 
King.  .  .  .  Herewith,  good  night  to  all  the  world, 
and  my  soul  to  God.    .    .    . 

"Jens  Munck." 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

The  stench  from  the  ship  became  unendurable. 
The  Dane  crawled  to  the  deck's  edge.  It  was  a 
mutual  surprise  for  him  to  see  the  two  men  ashore 
alive,  and  for  them  to  see  him.  Coming  over  the 
flats  with  painful  and  labored  weakness,  they  helped 
him  down  the  ship's  ladder.  On  land,  the  three 
had  strength  only  to  kindle  a  fire  of  the  driftwood, 
which  kept  the  wolves  off,  and  lie  near  it  sucking  the 
roots  of  every  green  sprout  within  reach.  This  was 
the  very  thing  they  had  needed — green  food.  From 
the  time  they  began  eating  weeds,  sea  nettles,  hem- 
lock vines,  sorrel  grass,  they  recovered. 

On  the  1 8th  of  June,  they  were  able  to  walk  out 
at  ebb  tide  to  the  ships  on  the  flats.  By  the  26th 
they  could  take  broth  made  of  fish  and  fresh  part- 
ridge. "In  the  name  of  Jesus  after  prayer  and 
supplication  to  God,  we  set  to  work  to  rig  The  Lam- 
prey,''^ records  Munck.  The  dead  were  thrown  over- 
board. So  were  all  ballast  and  cargo.  Conse- 
quently, when  the  tide  came  in,  the  sloop  was  so 
light  it  floated  free  above  the  ice-break  of  rocks  and 
logs  constructed  the  year  before.  Munck  then  had 
holes  drilled  in  the  hull  of  The  Unicorn  to  sink  her 
till  he  could  come  back  for  the  frigate  with  an  ade- 
quate crew.  "On  the  i6th  of  July,"  writes  Munck, 
just  a  year  from  the  time  they  had  entered  Hudson 
Straits,  "Sunday  in  the  afternoon,  we  set  sail  from 

88 


The  Adventures  of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 

there  in  the  name  of  God."  Neither  a  kingdom 
nor  a  Northwest  Passage  had  they  found  for  King 
Christian  of  Denmark,  but  only  hardships  unspeak- 
able, the  inevitable  fate  of  every  pioneer  of  the  New 
World,  as  though  Nature  would  test  their  mettle 
before  she  began  rearing  a  new  race  of  men,  pioneers 
of  a  new  era  in  the  world's  long  history. 

If  it  had  been  difficult  for  crews  of  sixty-five  to 
navigate  the  ice  floes,  w^hat  was  it  for  an  emaciated 
crew  of  three?  Forty  miles  out  from  Churchill,  a 
polar  bear  strayed  across  the  ice  sniffing  at  The 
Lamprey  when  the  ship's  dog  sprang  over  in  pursuit 
with  the  bold  spirit  of  the  true  Great  Dane.  Just 
then  the  ice  floe  parted  from  the  sloop,  and  for  two 
days  they  could  hear  the  faithful  dog  howling  behind 
in  dismay.  A  gale  came  banging  the  ship  against 
the  ice  and  smashed  the  rudder,  but  Munck  out  with 
his  grapnel,  fastened  The  Lamprey  to  the  ice  and 
drifted  with  the  floe  almost  as  far  as  the  Straits.  A 
month  it  took  to  cross  the  bay  to  Digges  Island  at 
the  west  end  of  the  Straits.  For  a  second  time,  the 
brave  mariner  worked  his  way  through  the  Straits 
by  the  old  trick  of  throwing  out  the  grapnel  and 
hauling  himself  along  the  floes.  This  time  he  was 
drifting  with  the  ice,  not  against  it,  and  the  passage 
was  easier.  Once  out  of  the  Straits,  such  a  gale  was 
raging  "as  woidd  blow  a  man  off  his  legs,'^  records 

89 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Munck,  but  the  wind  carried  him  forward.  Off 
Shetland  a  ship  was  signaled  for  help,  but  the  high 
seas  prevented  its  approach  and  the  little  Lamprey 
literally  shot  into  a  harbor  of  Norway,  on  September 
2oth.  Not  a  soul  was  visible  but  a  peasant,  and 
Munck  had  to  threaten  to  blow  the  fellow's  brains 
out  before  he  would  help  to  moor  the  ship.  With 
the  soil  of  Europe  once  more  firmly  under  their  feet, 
the  poor  Danes  could  no  longer  restrain  their  tears. 
They  fell  on  their  knees  thanking  God  for  the  de- 
liverance from  ''the  icebergs  and  dreadful  storms 
and  foaming  seas." 

As  Munck  did  not  record  the  latitude  of  his  win- 
tering harbor — presumably  to  keep  his  ship  in  hiding 
till  he  could  go  for  it — doubt  arose  about  the  port 
being  Churchill.  This  doubt  was  increased  by  an 
erroneous  account  of  his  voyage  published  in  France, 
but  the  identity  of  Munck's  Cove  with  Churchill 
has  been  trebly  proved.  The  drawing  which  Munck 
made  of  the  harbor  is  an  exact  outline  of  Churchill. 
Besides,  eighty  years  afterward  when  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Fur  Company  established  their  fort  at  Church- 
ill, brass  cannon  were  dug  from  the  river  flats  stamped 
with  the  letter  C  4— Christian  IV.  Strongest  con- 
firmation of  all  were  the  Indian  legends.  The  sav- 
ages called  the  river,  River  of  Strangers,  because  when 

90 


The  Adventures  of  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 

they  came  down  to  the  shore  in  the  summer  of  1620, 
they  found  clothing  and  the  corpses  of  a  race  they 
had  never  seen  before.  When  they  beheld  the  ship 
at  ebb  tide,  they  could  hardly  believe  their  senses, 
and  when  they  found  it  full  of  plunder,  their  wonder 
was  unspeakable.  But  the  joy  was  short-lived. 
Drying  the  cargo  above  their  fires,  kegs  of  gunpowder 
came  in  contact  with  a  spark.  Plunder  and  plun- 
derers and  ship  were  blown  to  atoms.  Henceforth, 
Churchill  became  ill  omened  as  the  River-of-the- 
Strangers. 

The  same  erroneous  French  account  records  that 
Munck  suicided  from  chagrin  over  his  failure.  This 
is  a  confusion  with  Munck's  father.  The  Dane  had 
seen  enough  to  know  while  there  was  no  Northwest 
Passage,  there  was  an  unclaimed  kingdom  for  Den- 
mark, and  he  had  planned  to  come  back  to  Churchill 
with  colonists  when  war  broke  out  in  Europe.  Munck 
went  back  to  the  navy  and  was  in  active  service  to 
within  a  few  hours  of  his  death  on  June  3,  1628. 

Many  nameless  soldiers  go  down  to  death  in  every 
victory.  The  exploration  of  America  was  one  long- 
fought  battle  of  three  hundred  years  in  which  count- 
less heroes  went  down  to  nameless  graves  in  what 
appeared  to  be  failure.  But  it  was  not  failure. 
Their  little  company,  their  scouts,  the  flanking  move- 
ment— met  defeat,  but  the  main  body  moved  on  to 

91 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

victory.  The  honor  was  not  the  less  because  their 
division  was  the  one  to  be  mowed  down  in  death. 
So  it  was  with  Jens  Munck.  His  crews  did  their 
own  little  part  in  their  own  little  unknown  comer, 
and  they  perished  miserably  doing  it.  They  could 
not  foresee  the  winning  of  a  continent  from  realms 
as  darkly  unknown  as  Hades  behind  its  portals. 
Not  the  less  is  the  honor  theirs. 

By  what  chances  does  Destiny  or  Providence  direct 
the  affairs  of  nations  and  men?  If  Munck  had  not 
been  called  back  to  the  navy  and  had  succeeded 
in  bringing  the  colonists  as  he  planned  back  to 
Hudson  Bay,  Radisson  would  not  have  captured 
that  region  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Though 
Hudson,  an  Englishman,  had  discovered  the  bay, 
one  might  almost  say  if  Munck  had  succeeded,  as 
far  as  the  Northwest  is  concerned,  there  would  have 
been  no  British  North  America. 

NOTES    ON    MUNCK 

Munck's  Voyages,  written  by  himself  and  dedicated  to  the 
King  of  Denmark,  appeared  in  Copenhagen  in  1624.  Unfor- 
tunately before  his  authentic  account  appeared,  stories  of  his 
voyage  had  been  told  in  France  from  mere  hearsay,  by  La 
Peyrere.  It  is  this  erroneous  version  of  Munck's  adventures 
that  appears  in  various  collections  of  voyages,  such  as  Church- 
ill's and  Jcrcmie's  Relation  in  the  Bernard  Collection.  Of  modern 
authorities  on  Munck,  Vol.  II  of  the  Hakluyt  Society  for  1S97, 
and  the  writings  of  Mr.  Lanridsen  of  Copenhagen  stand  first. 
Data  on  the  topograph}^  of  the  Straits  and  Bay  and  Bafhn's 
Land  may  be  found  in  the  Canadian  Government  Reports  from 

92 


The  Adventures  oj  the  Danes  on  Hudson  Bay 


1877  down  to  1906.  But  best  of  all  arc  the  directions  of  the 
old  sailing  masters  employed  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
which  are  only  to  be  found  in  the  Archives  of  Hudson's  Bay 
House,  London.  In  English  reports — though  all  English  ac- 
counts of  Munck  except  the  Hakluyt  Society's  are  limited  to  a 
few  paragraphs — his  name  is  spelled  Munk.  He,  himself,  spelled 
it  Munck. 


93 


PART  II 

1662-1713 

How  the  Sea  of  the  North  is  Discovered  Over- 
land by  the  French  Explorers  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
— Radisson,  the  Pathfinder,  Founds  the  Company 
of  the  Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England  Trading 
to  Hudson's  Bay  and  Leads  the  Company  a  Dance 
for  Fifty  Years — He  is  Followed  by  the  French 
Raiders  Under  d'Iberville. 


CHAPTER  VI 

1662-1674 

RADISSON,     THE    PATHFINDER,     DISCOVERS    HUDSON 
BAY  AND    FOUNDS    THE   COMPANY   OF   GEN- 
TLEMEN   ADVENTURERS 

FOR  fifty  years  the  great  inland  sea,  which 
Hudson  had  discovered,  lay  in  a  silence  as 
of  death.  To  the  east  of  it  lay  a  vast  pen- 
insular territory — crumpled  rocks  scored  and  seamed 
by  rolling  rivers,  cataracts,  upland  tarns — Labrador, 
in  area  the  size  of  half  a  dozen  European  kingdoms. 
To  the  south,  the  Great  Clay  Belt  of  untracked,  im- 
penetrable forests  stretched  to  the  watershed  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  in  area  twice  the  size  of  modern  Ger- 
many. West  of  Hudson  Bay  lay  what  is  now  known 
as  the  Great  Northwest  —  Keewatin,  Manitoba, 
Saskatchewan,  Alberta,  Mackenzie  River  and  Brit- 
ish Columbia — in  area,  a  second  Russia;  but  the 
primeval  world  lay  in  undisturbed  silence  as  of  death. 
Fox  and  James  had  come  to  the  bay  ten  years  after 
Jens  Munck,  the  Dane;  and  the  record  of  their  suf- 
ferings has  been  compared  to  the  Book  of  Lamenta- 

97 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

tions;  but  the  sea  gave  up  no  secret  of  its  dead,  no 
secret  of  open  passage  way  to  the  Orient,  no  inkling 
of  the  immeasurable  treasures  hidden  in  the  forest 
and  mine  and  soil  of  the  vast  territory  bordering  its 
coasts. 

A  new  era  was  now  to  open  on  the  bay — an  era  of 
wildwood  runners  tracking  the  snow-padded  silences ; 
of  dare-devil  gamesters  of  the  wilderness  sweeping 
down  the  forested  waterways  to  midnight  raid  and 
ambuscade  and  massacre  on  the  bay;  of  two  great 
powers — first  France  and  England,  then  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Fur  Company  and  the  Nor'Westers — 
locked  in  death-grapple  during  a  century  for  the 
prize  of  dominion  over  the  immense  unknown  terri- 
tory inland  from  the  bay.  Hudson  and  Jens  Munck, 
Vikings  of  the  sea,  were  to  be  succeeded  by  those  in- 
trepid knights  of  the  wilderness,  Radisson  the  path- 
finder, and  d'Iberville,  the  wildwood  rover.  The 
third  era  on  Hudson  Bay  comes  down  to  our  own 
day.  It  marks  the  transition  from  savagery  with 
semi-barbaric  splendor,  with  all  its  virtues  of  out- 
door life  and  dashing  bravery,  and  all  its  vices  of 
unbridled  freedom  in  a  no-man's  land  with  law  of 
neither  God  nor  man^ — to  modern  commerce;  the 
transition  from  the  Eskimo's  kyack  and  voyageur's 
canoe  over  trackless  waters  to  latter-day  Atlantic 
liners  plowing  furrows  over  the  main  to  the  marts 

98 


Radisson,  the  Pathfinder 


of  commerce,  and  this  period,  too,  is  best  typified  in 
two  commanding  figures  that  stand  out  colossally 
from  other  actors  on  the  bay — Lord  Selkirk,  the 
young  philanthropist,  and  Lord  Strathcona,  whose 
activities  only  began  at  an  age  when  other  men 
have  either  made  or  marred  their  careers.  For  three 
hundred  years,  the  history  of  Hudson  Bay  and  of  all 
that  region  for  which  the  name  stands  is  really  the 
history  of  these  four  men — Radisson,  d'Iberville, 
Selkirk  and  Strathcona. 

While  Hudson  Bay  lay  in  its  winter  sleep,  the 
world  had  gone  on.  The  fur  traders  of  New  France 
had  pushed  westward  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the 
Great  Lakes  and  Mississippi.  In  fact,  France  was 
making  a  bold  bid  for  the  possession  of  all  America 
except  New  Spain,  and  if  her  kings  had  paid  more 
attention  to  her  colonies  and  less  to  the  fripperies 
of  the  fool-men  and  fool-women  in  her  courts,  the 
French  flag  might  be  waving  over  the  most  of  Amer- 
ica to-day.  In  New  England,  things  had  also  gone 
apace.  New  York  had  gone  over  from  Dutch  to 
English  rule,  and  the  commissioners  of  His  Majesty, 
King  Charles  II,  were  just  returning  from  revising 
the  affairs  of  the  American  plantations  consequent 
upon  the  change  from  Cromwell's  Commonwealth 
to  the  Stuart's  Restoration.    In  England,  at  Oxford, 

99 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

was  Charles  himself,  fled  from  the  plague  of  London. 
Majesty  was  very  jaded.  Success  had  lost  its  relish 
and  pleasure  had  begun  to  pall  from  too  much  sur- 
feit. It  was  a  welcome  spur  to  the  monarch's  idle 
languor  when  word  came  posthaste  that  the  royal 
commissioner,  Sir  George  Carterett,  had  just  arrived 
from  America  accompanied  by  two  famous  French- 
men with  a  most  astonishing  story. 

They  had  set  sail  from  America  on  August  i, 
1665,  Carterett  bearing  a  full  report  of  conditions  in 
the  American  plantations.  When  off  Spain,  their 
boat  had  been  sighted,  pursued,  captured  and 
boarded  by  a  Dutch  privateer — The  Caper.  For 
two  hours,  hull  to  hull,  rail  to  rail,  hand  to  hand, 
they  had  fought,  the  men  behind  the  guns  at  the  port- 
holes of  one  ship  looking  into  the  smoke-grimed 
faces  of  the  men  behind  the  guns  on  the  other  ship 
till  a  roaring  broadside  from  The  Caper  tore  the 
entrails  out  of  Carterett's  ship.  Carterett  just  had 
time  to  fling  his  secret  dispatches  overboard  when 
a  bayonet  was  leveled  at  his  breast  and  he  surren- 
dered his  sword  a  captive.  Likewise  did  two  French 
companions.  Taken  on  board  The  Caper,  all  three 
were  severely  questioned — especially  the  French- 
men. Why  were  they  with  Carterett?  Where  were 
they  going?  Where  had  they  come  from?  Could 
they  not  be  persuaded  to  go  to  Holland  with  their 

100 


Radisson,  the  Pathfinder 


extraordinary  story.  One — Medard  Chouart  de 
Groseillers — was  a. middle-aged  man,  heavily  bearded, 
swarthy,  weather-worn  from  a  life  in  the  wilderness. 
The  other — his  brother-in-law — Pierre  Esprit  Rad- 
isson, was  not  yet  thirty  years  of  age.  He  was  clean- 
shaved,  thin,  lithe,  nervous  with  the  restlessness  of 
bottled-up  energies,  with  a  dash  in  his  manners  that 
was  a  cut  between  the  courtier  and  the  wilderness 
runner.  These  were  the  two  men  of  whom  such 
famous  stories  had  been  told  these  ten  years  back — 
the  most  renowned  and  far  traveled  wood-runners 
that  New  France  had  yet  produced.  It  was  they, 
who  had  brought  600,000  beaver  skins  to  Quebec 
on  a  single  trip  from  the  North.  How  they  had  been 
robbed  by  the  governor  of  New  France  and  driven 
from  Quebec  to  Cape  Breton,  where,  out  of  jealousy, 
they  were  set  upon  and  mobbed,  escaping  only  with 
the  clothes  on  their  backs  to  Port  Royal,  Nova  Scotia 
— was  known  to  all  men.  In  vain,  they  had  ap- 
pealed to  France  for  justice.  The  robber  governor 
was  all  powerful  at  the  French  court  and  the  two 
explorers — penniless  nobodies  pitting  their  power 
against  the  influence  of  wealth  and  nobility — were 
dismissed  from  the  court  as  a  joke.  They  had  been 
promised  a  vessel  to  make  farther  explorations  in 
the  North,  but  when  they  came  to  Isle  Perce,  south 
of  Anticosti,  to  await  the  vessel,  a  Jesuit  was  sent 

lOI 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

to  them  with  word  that  the  promise  had  been  a 
put-off  to  rid  the  court  of  troublesome  suitors — in 
a  word,  a  perfidious  joke.  There  had  followed  the 
flight  to  Cape  Breton,  the  setting  to  work  of  secret 
influence  against  them,  the  mob,  the  attempted 
murder,  the  flight  to  Port  Royal,  Nova  Scotia.  Port 
Royal  was  at  this  time  under  English  rule,  and  an 
English  captain,  Zachariah  Gillam,  offered  his  ship 
for  their  trip  North,  but  when  up  opposite  Hudson 
Straits,  the  captain  had  been  terrified  by  the  ice  and 
lost  heart.  He  turned  back.  The  season  was 
wasted.  The  two  Frenchmen  had  then  clubbed 
their  dwindling  fortunes  together  and  had  engaged 
two  vessels  on  their  own  account,  but  fishing  to  lay 
up  supplies  at  Sable  Island,  one  of  the  vessels  had 
been  wrecked.  For  four  years  they  had  been 
hounded  by  a  persistent  ill-luck:  First,  when  robbed 
by  the  French  governor  on  pretense  of  a  fine  for 
going  to  the  North  without  his  permission;  second, 
when  befooled  by  the  false  promises  of  the  French 
court;  third,  when  Captain  Gillam  refused  to  pro- 
ceed farther  amid  the  Northern  ice ;  and  now,  when 
the  wreck  of  the  vessel  involved  them  in  a  lawsuit. 
In  Boston,  they  had  won  their  lawsuit,  but  the  ill-luck 
left  them  destitute.  Carterett,  the  Royal  Com- 
missioner, had  met  them  in  Boston  and  had  per- 
suaded them  to  come  to  England  with  him. 

102 


Radissoriy  the  Pathfinder 


The  commander  of  the  Dutch  ship  listened  to 
their  story  and  took  down  a  report  of  it  in  writing. 
Could  they  not  be  persuaded  to  come  on  with  him  to 
Holland?  The  two  Frenchmen  refused  to  leave 
Carterett.  Groseillers,  Radisson  and  Carterett  were 
then  landed  in  Spain.  From  Spain,  they  begged 
and  borrowed  and  pawned  their  way  to  France,  and 
from  France  got  passage  to  Dover.  Here,  then,  they 
had  come  to  the  king  at  Oxford  with  their  amazing 
story. 

The  stirring  adventures  of  these  two  explorers, 
I  have  told  in  another  volume,  and  an  exact  trans- 
cript of  their  journals  I  am  giving  elsewhere,  but 
their  story  was  one  to  make  King  Charles  marvel. 
How  Radisson  as  a  boy  had  been  captured  by  the 
Mohawks  and  escaped  through  the  Dutch  settle- 
ment of  New  York;  how,  as  a  youth,  he  had  helped 
the  Jesuits  to  flee  from  a  beleaguered  fort  at  Onon- 
daga; how  before  he  was  twenty-five  years  old,  he 
had  gone  overland  to  the  Mississippi  where  he  heard 
from  Cree  and  Sioux  of  the  Sea  of  the  North;  and 
how  before  he  was  thirty,  he  had  found  that  sea  where 
Hudson  had  perished — all  those  adventures  King 
Charles  heard.  The  King  listened  and  pondered^ 
and  pondered  and  listened,  and  especially  did  he 
listen  to  that  story  of  the  Sea  of  the  North,  which 
Henry  Hudson  had  found  in  1610  and  from  which 

103 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Radisson  sixty  years  later  had  brought  600,000 
beaver.  Beaver  at  that  time  was  worth  much  more 
than  it  is  to-day.  That  cargo  of  beaver,  which 
Radisson  had  brought  down  from  Hudson  Bay  to 
Quebec  would  be  worth  more  than  a  million  dollars  in 
modern  money. 

''We  were  in  danger  to  perish  a  thousand  times 
from  the  ice  runs,"  related  Radisson,  telling  how 
they  had  passed  up  the  Ottawa  to  Lake  Superior 
and  from  Lake  Superior  by  canoe  seven  hundred 
miles  north  to  Hudson  Bay.  "We  had  thwarted 
(portaged)  a  place  forty-five  miles.  We  came  to 
the  far  end  at  night.  It  was  thick  forest,  and  dark, 
and  we  knew  not  where  to  go.  We  launched  our 
canoes  on  the  current  and  came  full  sail  on  a  deep 
bay,  where  we  perceived  smoke  and  tents.  Many 
boats  rush  to  meet  us.  We  are  received  with  joy 
by  the  Crees.  They  suffer  us  not  to  tread  the  ground 
but  carry  us  like  cocks  in  a  basket  to  their  tents.  We 
left  them  with  all  possible  haste  to  follow  the  great 
river  and  came  to  the  seaside,  where  we  found  an 
old  house  all  demolished  and  battered  with  bullets. 
The  Indians  tell  us  peculiarities  of  the  Europeans, 
whom  they  have  seen  there.  We  went  from  isle  to 
isle  all  summer.  We  went  along  the  bay  to  see  the 
place  the  Indians  pass  the  summer.  This  river 
comes  from  the  lake  that  empties  in  the  Saguenay 

104 


Radisson,  the  Pathfinder 


at  Tadoussac,  a  hundred  leagues  from  where  we 
were  in  the  Bay  of  the  North.  We  left  in  the  place 
our  mark  and  rendezvous.  We  passed  the  summer 
coasting  the  sea.  This  is  a  vast  country.  The 
people  are  friendly  to  the  Sioux  and  the  Cree.  We 
followed  another  river  back  to  the  Upper  Lake  (Lake 
Superior)  and  it  was  midwinter  before  we  joined 
the  company  at  our  fort"  (north  of  Lake  Superior). 
When  King  Charles  moved  from  Oxford  to  Wind- 
sor, Radisson  and  Groseillers  were  ordered  to  ac- 
company him,  and  when  the  monarch  returned  to 
London,  the  two  Frenchmen  were  commanded  to 
take  chambers  in  town  within  reach  of  the  court, 
and  what  was  more  to  the  point,  the  King  assigned 
them  £2  a  week  maintenance,  for  they  were  both 
destitute,  as  penniless  soldiers  of  fortune  as  ever 
graced  the  throne  room  of  a  Stuart.  At  Oxford,  too, 
they  had  met  Prince  Rupert,  and  Prince  Rupert 
espoused  their  cause  with  the  enthusiasm  of  an  ad- 
venturer, whose  fortunes  needed  mending.  The 
plague,  the  great  fire  in  London,  and  the  Dutch  war — 
— all  prevented  King  Charles  according  the  adven- 
turers immediate  help,  but  within  a  year  from  their 
landing,  he  writes  to  James,  Duke  of  York,  as  chief 
of  the  navy,  ordering  the  Admiralty  department  to 
loan  the  two  Frenchmen  the  ship  Eaglet  of  the  South 
Sea  fleet  for  a  voyage  to  Hudson  Bay,  for  the  purpose 

105 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

of  prosecuting  trade  and  extending  their  explora- 
tions toward  the  South  Sea.  I  have  his  letter  issuing 
the  instructions,  and  it  is  interesting  as  proving  that 
the  initiative  came  from  King  Charles,  as  Prince 
Rupert  has  hitherto  received  all  the  credit  for  organ- 
izing the  Adventurers  of  England  trading  to  Hudson 
Bay.  Prince  Rupert  and  half  a  dozen  friends  were 
to  bear  the  expense  of  wages  to  the  seamen  and 
victualling  the  ships.  During  the  long  period  of 
waiting,  Charles  presented  Radisson  with  a  gold 
medal  and  chain.  To  Groseillers — if  French  tradi- 
tion is  to  be  accepted — he  gave  some  slight  title  of 
nobility.  During  this  time,  too,  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  heard  from  the  captain  of  the  Dutch 
ship,  who  had  questioned  them.  There  came  a  spy 
from  Amsterdam — Eli  Godefroy  Touret,  who  first 
tried  to  bribe  the  Frenchmen  to  come  to  Holland, 
and  failing  that,  openly  accused  them  of  counter- 
feiting money.  The  accusation  could  not  be  proved, 
and  the  spy  was  imprisoned. 

The  year  1667-8  was  spent  in  preparations  for  the 
voyage.  In  addition  to  The  Eaglet  under  Captain 
Stannard,  the  ship  Nonsuch  under  Captain  Gillam, 
who  had  failed  to  reach  the  bay  from  Nova  Scotia — 
was  chartered.  As  far  as  I  could  gather  from  the 
old  documents  in  Hudson's  Bay  House,  London,  the 
ships  were  supplied  with  provisions  and  goods  for 

106 


■ 

^^^^^HP.           ^^i^^    ^^ 

^^^ 

H 

^^^H^^^^Hb^^h 

n^^^^ 

^H 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hb^'     ^2^^^^^&\^K^^^^^H^^HI^^c 

^I^Ib 

^^^^^^^^^'-'^^■XlnH^Bk; 

b-^a 

^^^^^afli^^ 

^S^ 

r  ._^^H| 

^^^S  i 

H 

^^^^^B^^^^^B^^^^S 

^1 

Bienville,  founder  of  Louisiana,  who  took  part  with  his  brother 
Le  Moyne  d'Iberville,  in  the  famous  naval  battle  for  possession  of 
Hudson  Bav. 


Radisson,  the  Pathfinder 


trade  by  leading  merchants,  who  were  given  a  share 
in  the  venture.  The  cash  required  was  for  the  sea- 
men's wages,  running  from  ,^20  to  £t,o  a  year,  and 
for  the  officer's  pay,  £^  a  month  to  the  surgeons,  £50 
a  trip  to  the  captains,  with  a  bounty  if  the  venture 
succeeded.  With  the  bounty,  Gillam  received  ;^i6o 
for  this  trip,  Stannard,  ;i^28o.  Thomas  Gorst,  who 
went  as  accountant,  and  Mr.  Sheppard  as  chief 
mate,  were  to  assume  command  if  anything  hap- 
pened to  Radisson  and  Groseillers.  All,  who  ad- 
vanced either  cash,  or  goods,  or  credit  for  goods, 
were  entered  in  a  stock  book  as  Adventurers  for  so 
many  pounds.  There  was  as  yet  no  company  or- 
ganized. It  was  a  pure  gamble — a  speculation 
based  on  the  word  of  two  penniless  French  adven- 
turers, and  in  the  spirit  of  the  true  gambler,  gay 
were  the  doings.  Captain  Gillam  facetiously  pre- 
sents the  Adventurers  with  a  bill  for  five  shilling  for 
a  rat  catcher.  The  gentlemen  honor  the  bill  with  a 
smile,  order  a  pipe  of  canary,  three  tuns  of  wine, 
"a  dinner  with  pullets,"  dinners,  indeed,  galore, 
at  the  Three  Tunns  and  the  Exchange  Tavern  and 
the  Sun,  at  which  Prince  Rupert  and  Albermarle 
and  perhaps  the  King,  himself,  "make  merry  like 
right  worthy  gentlemen."  Everybody  is  in  rare, 
good  humor,  for  you  must  remember  Mr.  Radisson 
brought  back  600,000  beaver  from  that  Sea  of  the 

107 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

North,  and  the  value  of  600,000  beaver  divided 
among  less  than  a  dozen  Adventurers  would  mean 
a  tidy  $100,000  of  modern  money  to  each  man. 
Then,  the  gentlemen  go  down  to  Gravesend  Docks 
to  see  the  ships  off.  Each  seaman  shakes  hands 
heartily  with  his  patron.  Then  the  written  com- 
mission is  delivered  to  the  captains: 

"You  are  to  saile  with  the  first  wind  that  presents, 
keeping  company  with  each  other  to  your  place  of  ren- 
dezvous (the  old  mark  set  up  by  Radisson  when  he  went 
overland  to  the  bay.)  You  are  to  saile  to  such  place  as 
Mr.  Gooseberry  (Groseillers)  and  Mr.  Radisson  shall 
direct  to  trade  with  the  Indians  there,  delivering  the  goods 
you  carry  in  small  parcells  no  more  than  fifty  pounds 
worth  at  a  time  out  of  each  shipp,  the  furs  in  exchange  to 
stowe  in  each  shipp  before  dehvering  out  any  more  goods, 
according  to  the  particular  advice  of  Mr.  Gooseberry 
(Groseillers)  and  Mr.  Radisson." 

Then  follows  a  cryptogramatic  order,  which  would 
have  done  credit  to  the  mysterious  cipher  of  pirates 
on  the  high  seas. 

"You  are  to  take  notice  that  the  Namputnpeage  which 
you  carry  with  you  is  part  of  our  joynt  cargoes  wee  having 
bought  it  for  money  for  Mr.  Gooseberry  and  Mr.  Radisson 
to  be  delivered  by  small  quantities  with  like  caution  as  the 
other  goods." 

No  more  drinking  of  high  wines,  my  gentlemen! 
Strict  business  now,  for  it  need  scarcely  be  explained 

108 


Radisson,  the  Pathfinder 


the  mysterious  Nampumpeage  was  a  euphemism  for 
Hquor.  Fortifications  are  to  be  built,  minerals 
sought,  the  cargo  is  to  be  brought  home  by  Gros- 
eillers,  while  Radisson  remains  to  conduct  trade,  and 

"You  are  to  have  in  your  thought  the  discovery  of  the 
passage  into  the  South  Sea  and  to  attempt  it  with  the 
advice  and  direction  of  Mr.  Gooseberry  and  Mr.  Rad- 
isson, they  having  told  us  that  it  is  only  seven  daies  pad- 
dling or  sailing  from  the  River  where  they  intend  to  trade 
unto  the  Stinking  Lake  (the  Great  Lakes)  and  not  above 
seven  daies  more  to  the  straight  wch.  leads  into  that  Sea 
they  call  the  South  Sea,  and  from  thence  but  forty  or  fifty 
leagues  to  the  Sea  itselfe." 

Exact  journals  and  maps  are  to  be  kept.  In  case 
the  goods  cannot  be  traded,  the  ships  are  to  carry 
their  cargoes  to  Newfoundland  and  the  New  Eng- 
land plantations,  where  Mr.  Philip  Carterett,  who 
is  governor  of  New  Jersey,  will  assist  in  disposing  of 
the  goods, 

"Lastly  we  advise  and  require  you  to  use  the  said  Mr. 
Gooseberry  and  Mr.  Radisson  with  all  manner  of  civility 
and  courtesy  and  to  take  care  that  all  your  company  doe 
bear  a  particular  respect  unto  them,  they  being  the  per- 
sons upon  whose  credit  wee  have  undertaken  this  expedi- 
tion, 
"Which  we  beseech  Almighty  God  to  prosper." 
Rupert        Albermarle 
(signed)      Craven        G.  Carterett 
J.  Hayes      P.  Colleton. 

109 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

A  last  shout,  the  tramp  of  sailors  running  round 
the  capstans,  and  the  ships  of  the  Gentlemen  Ad- 
venturers of  England  trading  to  Hudson's  Bay  are 
off;  off  to  find  and  found  a  bigger  empire  for  Eng- 
land than  Russia  and  Germany,  and  France,  and 
Spain,  and  Austria  combined. 

Notes  on  Chapter  VI. — Full  details  of  Radisson's  life  prior  to 
his  coming  to  England,  when  he  was  an  active  explorer  of  New 
France,  are  to  be  found  in  the  previous  volume.  Pathfinders 
of  the  West.  The  data  for  that  volume  came  almost  exclusively 
from  the  Marine  Archives  of  Paris.  The  facts  of  this  chapter 
are  drawn  from  the  Archives  of  Hudson's  Bay  House,  London, 
England,  which  I  personally  searched  with  the  result  of  almost 
three  hundred  foolscap  folio  pages  of  matter  pertaining  to 
Radisson,  and  from  the  Public  Records  Office  of  London,  which 
I  had  searched,  by  a  competent  person,  on  the  Stuart  Period.  It 
is  extraordinary  how  the  Archives  of  France  and  the  Archives 
of  England  dove-tail  and  corroborate  each  other  in  every  detail 
regarding  Radisson.  King  Charles'  letter  in  his  favor  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Public  Records  Office,  State  Papers,  Domestic 
Series,  Entry  Book  26.  The  Admiralty  Board  Books,  No.  15, 
contain  the  correspondence  regarding  the  voyage.  The  in- 
structions to  the  captains — five  foolscap  pages — are  in  the  S.  P. 
Dom.  Carl.  H.  No.  180.  The  exact  data  regarding  Radisson's 
movements,  given  in  this  chapter,  are  from  his  Manuscript 
Journal  in  the  Bodleian  and  from  the  two  petitions  which  ne 
filed,  one  to  the  Company,  one  to  Parliament,  copies  of  which  are 
in  Hudson's  Bay  House,  London.  It  is  necessary  to  give  the 
authorities  somewhat  explicitly  because  in  the  case  of  Path- 
finders of  the  West,  the  New  York  Evening  Post  begged  readers 
to  consult  original  sources  regarding  Radisson.  As  original 
sources  are  not  open  to  the  public,  the  advice  was  worth  just 
exactly  the  spirit  that  animated  it.  However,  transcripts  of 
all  data  bearing  on  Radisson  will  be  given  to  the  public  with 
his  journals,  in  the  near  future. 


1 10 


CHAPTER  VII 

1668-1674 

THE  ADVENTURES  OF  THE  FIRST  VOYAGE — RADISSON 
DRIVEN  BACK  ORGANIZES  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY 
COMPANY  AND  WRITES  HIS  JOURNALS  OF  FOUR 
VOYAGES — THE  CHARTER  AND  THE  FIRST  SHARE- 
HOLDERS— ADVENTURES  OF  RADISSON  ON  THE 
BAY — THE  COMING  OF  THE  FRENCH  AND  THE 
QUARREL 

AT  LAST,  then,  five  years  from  the  time 
/-\  they  had  discovered  the  Sea  of  the  North, 
^  -^  after  baffling  disappointments,  fruitless 
efforts  and  the  despair  known  only  to  those  who 
have  stood  face  to  face  with  the  Grim  Specter,  Ruin, 
Radisson  and  Groseillers  set  sail  for  Hudson  Bay 
from  Gravesend  on  June  3,  1668.  Radisson  was 
on  the  big  ship  Eaglet  with  Captain  Stannard,  Gros- 
eillers on  The  Nonstich  of  Boston,  with  Captain 
Gillam. 

Countless  hopes  and  fears  must  have  animated 
the  breasts  of  the  Frenchmen.  It  is  so  with  every 
venture  that  is  based  on  the  unknown.  The  very 
fact  that  possibilities  are  unknown  gives  scope  to 
unbridled  fancy  and  the  wildest  hopes;  gives  scope, 

III 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Great  Northwest 

too,  when  the  pendulum  swings  the  other  way,  to 
deepest  distrust.  The  country  boy  trudging  along 
the  road  with  a  carpetbag  to  seek  his  fortunes  in 
the  city,  dreams  of  the  day  when  he  may  be  a  million- 
aire. By  nightfall,  he  longs  for  the  monotonous 
drudgery  and  homely  content  and  quiet  poverty  of 
the  plow. 

So  with  Radisson  and  Groseillers.  They  had 
brought  back  600,000  beaver  pelts  overland  from 
Hudson  Bay  five  years  before.  If  they  could  repeat 
the  feat,  it  meant  bigger  booty  than  Drake  had 
raided  from  the  Spanish  of  the  South  Seas,  for  the 
price  of  beaver  at  that  time  fluctuated  wildly  from 
eight  shillings  to  thirty-five.  And  who  could  tell 
that  they  might  not  find  a  passage  to  the  South  Seas 
from  Hudson  Bay?  That  old  legend  of  a  tide  like 
the  ocean  on  Lake  Winnipeg,  Radisson  had  heard 
from  the  Indians,  as  every  explorer  was  to  hear  it 
for  a  hundred  years.  The  explanation  is  very  simple 
to  anyone  who  has  sailed  on  Lake  Winnipeg.  The 
lake  is  so  shallow  that  an  inshore  wind  lashes  the 
waters  up  like  a  tide.  Then  sudden  calm,  or  an 
outshore  breeze,  leaves  the  muddy  flats  almost  bare. 
I  remember  being  stranded  on  that  lake  by  such  a 
shift  of  wind  for  twenty-four  hours.  To  the  Indians 
who  had  never  seen  the  ocean,  the  phenomenon 
seemed  like  the  tide  of  which  the  white  man  told, 

112 


The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage 

so  Radisson  had  reported  to  the  Adventurers  that 
the  Indians  said  the  South  Sea  was  only  a  few  weeks' 
journey  from  Hudson  Bay. 

Radisson,  whose  highest  hope  from  boyhood  was 
to  be  a  great  explorer,  must  have  dreamed  his  dreams 
as  the  ships  slid  along  the  glassy  waters  of  the 
Atlantic  westward.  Six  weeks,  ordinarily,  it  took 
sailing  vessels  to  go  from  the  Thames  to  the  mouth 
of  Hudson  Straits,  but  furious  storms — as  if  the  very 
elements  themselves  were  bent  on  the  defeat  of  these 
two  indomitable  men — drove  their  ships  apart  half 
way  across  the  Atlantic.  As  is  often  the  case,  the 
little  ship — Gillam's  Nonsuch — weathered  the  hur- 
ricane. Now  buried  under  billows  mountain-high, 
with  the  yardarms  drenched  by  each  wash  of  the 
pounding  breakers,  now  plowing  through  the  cata- 
ract of  waters,  the  little  Nonsuch  kept  her  head 
to  the  wind,  and  if  a  sea  swept  from  stem  to  stern, 
battened  hatches  and  masts  naked  of  sails  took  no 
harm.  The  staunch  craft  kept  on  her  sea  feet,  and 
was  not  knocked  keel  up. 

But  The  Eaglet,  with  Radisson,  was  in  bad  way. 
Larger  and  ponderous  in  motion,  she  could  not  shift 
quick  to  the  raging  gale.  Blast  after  blast  caught 
her  broadsides.  The  masts  snapped  off  like  sap- 
lings uprooted  by  storm.  A  tornado  of  waters  threw 
the  ship  on  her  side  ^^till  we   had  like  to   have 

113 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

swamped'^ — relate  the  old  Company  records — and 
when  the  storm  cleared  and  the  ship  righted,  behold, 
of  The  Eaglet  there  is  left  only  the  bare  hull,  with 
deck  boards  and  cabin  floors  sprung  in  a  dozen 
places.  The  other  ship  was  out  of  sight.  Carpen- 
ters were  set  at  work  to  rig  the  lame  vessel  up.  It 
was  almost  October  before  the  battered  hull  came 
crawling  limply  to  her  dock  on  the  Thames.  There, 
Sir  James  Hayes,  Rupert's  secretary,  turned  her 
over  to  the  Admiralty. 

Adversity  is  a  great  tester  of  a  man's  mettle.  When 
some  men  fall  they  tumble  down  stairs.  Other 
men,  when  they  fall,  make  a  point  of  falling  up 
stairs.  Radisson  was  of  the  latter  class.  His  activ- 
ity redoubled.  The  design  in  the  first  place  had 
been  for  one  of  the  two  ships  to  winter  on  the  bay; 
the  other  ship  to  come  back  to  England  in  order  to 
return  to  the  bay  with  more  provisions.  Radisson 
urged  his  associates  not  to  leave  The  Nonsuch  in 
the  lurch.  Application  was  made  to  the  Admiralty 
for  another  ship.  The  Wavero  of  the  West  Indies 
was  granted.  Radisson  spent  the  winter  of  1668-69 
fitting  up  this  ship  and  writing  the  account  of  his 
first  four  voyages  through  the  wilds  of  America,  "aw(f 
/  hope""^ — he  concludes  the  fourth  voyage — "/o  em- 
barke  myself e  by  ye  helpe  of  God  this  fourth  year^^ 
of  coming  to  England.     But  The  Wavero  on  which 

114 


A  X«'»««^  •►* 


•>*  <v«- 


77 


Photograph  of  the  copy  of  Radisson's  Voyages,  end  of  the  third 
trip  on  which  he  discovered  Mississippi  River,  beginning  of  the 
fourth  trip  on  which  he  discovered  the  overland  route  to  the  Sea 
of  the  North,  or  Hudson's  Bay.  The  original  of  Radisson's  first 
four  voyages  is  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford,  part  of  the  famous 
Pepys  Collection.  The  question  has  been  raised — is  this  Radisson's 
handwriting,  or  that  of  a  copyist,  like  Rodd  and  others  who  did 
professional  work  for  Shaftesbury  and  others  of  Radisson's  associ- 
ates? Specialists  on  the  handwriting  and  idioms  of  the  period  say 
this  is  undoubtedlv  the  work  of  a  foreigner  not  familiar  with  the 
idioms  of  the  English. 


The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage 

Radisson  sailed  in  March,  1669,  proved  unsea- 
worthy.  She  had  to  turn  back.  What  was  Rad- 
isson's  delight  to  find  anchored  in  the  Thames,  The 
Notisuch,  with  his  brother-in-law,  Groseillers. 

After  parting  from  the  disabled  Eaglet,  The  Non- 
such had  driven  ahead  for  Hudson  Straits,  which 
she  missed  by  going  too  far  north  to  Baffin's  Land, 
but  came  to  the  entrance  on  the  4th  of  August. 
Owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  season,  the  straits  were 
free  of  ice  and  The  Nonsuch  made  a  quick  passage 
for  those  days,  reaching  Digges'  Island,  at  the  west 
end  of  the  straits  on  the  19th  of  August.  Groseillers 
and  Gillam  then  headed  south  for  that  rendezvous 
at  the  lower  end  of  the  bay,  where  the  two  French- 
men had  found  "a  house  all  battered  with  bullets," 
five  years  before,  and  had  set  up  their  own  marks. 
Slow  and  careful  search  of  the  east  coast  must  have 
been  made,  for  The  Nonsuch  was  seven  weeks 
cruising  the  seven  hundred  miles  from  Digges' 
Island  to  that  River  Nemisco,  which  had  seemed 
to  flow  from  the  country  of  the  St.  Lawrence  or  New 
France.  Here  they  cast  anchor  on  September  25, 
naming  the  river  Rupert  in  honor  of  their  patron. 
Beaching  the  ship  on  the  sand-bars  at  high  tide,  the 
crew  threw  logs  about  her  to  fend  off  ice  jams  and 
erected  slab  palisades  round  two  or  three  log  huts 
for  the  winter — a  fort  named  after  King  Charles. 

115 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Weather  favored  The  Nonsuches  crew.  The 
south  end  of  Hudson  Bay  often  has  snow  in  October, 
and  nearly  always  ice  is  formed  by  November. 
This  year,  the  harbor  did  not  freeze  till  the  9th  of 
December,  but  when  the  frost  did  come  it  was  a 
thing  to  paralyze  these  Englishmen  used  to  a  climate 
where  a  pocketful  of  coal  heats  a  house.  The  silent 
pine  forests,  snow-padded  and  snow- wreathed ;  the 
snow-cones  and  snow-mushrooms  and  snow-plumes 
bending  the  great  branches  with  weight  of  snow  like 
feathers;  the  icy  particles  that  floated  in  the  air; 
ice  fog,  diamond-sharp  in  sunshine  and  starlight 
but  ethereal  as  mist,  morning  and  evening;  the 
whooping  and  romping  and  stamping  and  cannon- 
shot  reports  of  the  frost  at  night  when  the  biggest 
trees  snapped  brittle  and  the  earth  seemed  to  groan 
with  pain;  the  mystic  mock-suns  that  shone  in  the 
heavens  foreboding  storm,  and  the  hoot  and  shout 
and  rush  of  the  storm  itself  through  the  forests  like 
the  Indians'  Thunder  Bird  on  the  wings  of  the  wind ; 
the  silences,  the  awful  silences,  that  seemed  to  engulf 
human  presence  as  the  frost-fog  closed  mistily 
through  the  aisled  forests — all  these  things  were  new 
and  wondrous  to  the  English  crew.  It  was — as 
Gillam's  journal  records — as  if  all  life  ''had  been 
frozen  to  death."  And  then  the  marvel  of  the  frost 
world,  frost  that  fringed  your  eyelashes  and  hair 

110 


The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage 

with  breath  as  you  spoke,  and  drew  ferns  on  the 
glazed  parchment  of  the  port  windows,  and  created 
two  inches  of  snow  on  the  walls  inside  the  ship! 
Snow  fell — fell — fell,  day  after  day,  week  after  week, 
muffling,  dreamy,  hypnotic  as  the  frost  sleep. 

But  these  things  were  no  new  marvels  to  Gros- 
eillers.  The  busy  Frenchman  was  off  to  the  woods 
on  snowshoes  in  search  of  the  Indians — a  search  in 
which  a  twig  snapped  off  short,  old  tepee  poles 
standing  bare,  a  bit  of  moose  skin  blowing  from  a 
branch,  deadfall  traps,  rabbit  snares  of  willow  twigs 
— were  his  sole  guides.  True  wood-loper,  he  found 
the  Ojibways'  camps  and  they  brought  down  their 
furs  to  trade  with  him  in  spring.  I  don't  know 
what  ground  there  is  for  it,  but  Groseillers  had  the 
reputation  for  being  a  very  hard  trader.  Perhaps  it 
was  that  the  cargo  of  600,000  pelts  had  been  brought 
back  when  he  had  gone  North  with  only  two  canoe 
loads  of  goods.  As  far  as  I  could  ascertain  from 
the  old  records,  the  scale  of  trade  at  the  time  was 
half  a  pound  of  beads,  one  beaver;  one  kettle,  one 
beaver;  one  pound  shot,  one  beaver;  five  pounds 
sugar,  one  beaver;  one  pound  tobacco,  one  beaver; 
one  gallon  brandy  (diluted?),  four  beaver;  one 
blanket,  six  beaver;  two  awls,  one  beaver;  twelve 
buttons,  one  beaver;  twenty  fishhooks,  one  beaver; 
twenty  flints,  one  beaver;  one  gun,  twelve  beaver;  one 

117 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

pistol,  four  beaver;  eight  bells,  one  beaver.  At  this 
stage,  trade  as  barter  was  not  known.  The  white 
man  dressed  in  gold  lace  and  red  velvets  pompously 
presented  his  goods  to  the  Indian.  The  Indian  had 
previously,  with  great  palaver,  presented  his  furs  to 
the  trader.  Any  little  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
values  might  be  settled  later  by  a  present  from  the 
trader  of  drugged  liquor  to  put  the  malcontent  to 
sleep,  or  a  scalping  raid  on  the  part  of  the  Indian. 

As  spring  came,  life  awakened  on  the  bay.  Wild 
geese  darkened  the  sky,  the  shrill  honk,  honk,  calling 
the  sailors'  notice  to  the  long  curved  lines  marshaled 
like  armies  with  leaders  and  scouts,  circling,  ma- 
neuvering, filing  north.  Whiskey  jays  became 
noisier  and  bolder  than  in  winter.  Red  bills  alighted 
in  flocks  at  the  crew's  camp  fires,  and  a  constant 
drumming  told  of  partridge  hiding  in  underbrush 
the  color  of  his  own  plumage.  There  was  no  lack 
of  sport  to  Gillam's  crew.  The  ice  went  out  with 
the  rush  of  a  cataract  in  May,  and  by  June  it  was 
blistering  hot,  with  the  canaries  and  warblers  and 
blue  jays  of  Southern  climes  nesting  in  the  forests  of 
this  far  Northern  bay.  By  June,  The  Nmisuch  was 
ship-shape  for  homeward  voyage,  and  the  adven- 
turers sailed  for  England,  coming  into  the  Thames 
about  the  time  Radisson  was  driven  back  on  The 
Wavero. 

ii8 


The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage 

There  is  no  record  of  what  furs  Groseillers  and 
Gillam  brought  back,  doubtless  for  the  reason  that 
the  proceeds  of  their  sale  had  to  satisfy  those  credit- 
ors, who  had  outfitted  the  ships  and  to  purchase 
new  ships  for  future  voyages.  But  the  next  move 
was  significant.  With  great  secrecy,  application 
was  made  to  King  Charles  II  for  a  royal  charter 
granting  **the  Gentlemen  Adventurers  Trading  to 
Hudson's  Bay"  monopoly  of  trade  and  profits  for 
all  time  to  come. 

In  itself,  the  charter  is  the  purest  piece  of  feudal- 
ism ever  perpetrated  on  America,  a  thing  so  alien  to 
the  thought  of  modern  democracy  and  withal  des- 
tined to  play  such  a  necessary  part  in  the  develop- 
ment of  northern  empire  that  it  is  worth  examining. 
In  the  first  place,  though  it  was  practically  deeding 
away  half  America — namely  all  of  modern  Canada 
except  New  France,  and  the  most  of  the  Western 
States  beyond  the  Mississippi — practically,  I  say, 
in  its  workings ;  the  charter  was  purely  a  royal  favor, 
depending  on  that  idea  of  the  Stuarts  that  the  earth 
was  not  the  Lord's,  but  the  Stuarts,  to  be  disposed 
of  as  they  wished. 

The  applicants  for  the  charter  were  Prince  Ru- 
pert, the  Duke  of  Albermarle,  the  Earl  of  Craven, 
Lord  Arlington,  Lord  Ashley,  Sir  John  Robinson, 
Sir  Robert  Viner,  Sir  Peter  Colleton,  Sir  Edward 

119 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Hungerford,  Sir  Paul  Neele,  Sir  John  Griffith,  Sir 
Philip  Carterett,  Sir  James  Hayes,  John  Kirke, 
Frances  Millington,  William  Prettyman,  John  Fenn 
and  John  Portman.  "Whereas,"  runs  the  charter, 
"these  have  at  their  own  great  cost  and  charges 
undertaken  an  expedition  for  Hudson's  Bay  for  the 
discovery  of  a  new  passage  to  the  South  Sea  and 
for  trade,  and  have  humbly  besought  us  to  incor- 
porate them  and  grant  unto  them  and  their  suc- 
cessors the  whole  trade  and  commerce  of  all  those 
seas,  straits,  bays,  rivers,  creeks  and  sounds  in  what- 
soever latitude  that  lie  within  the  entrance  of  the 
straits  called  Hudson's  Straits  together  with  all  the 
lands,  countries  and  territories  upon  the  coasts  and 
confines  of  the  seas,  straits,  bays,  lakes,  rivers, 
creeks  and  sounds  not  now  actually  possessed  by 
the  subjects  of  any  other  Christian  State,  know  ye 
that  we  have  given,  granted,  ratified  and  confirmed" 
the  said  grant.  There  follow  the  official  name  of 
the  company,  "the  Governor  and  Company  of  Ad- 
venturers of  England  trading  with  Hudson's  Bay," 
directions  for  the  appointment  of  a  governor  and  a 
governing  committee — Prince  Rupert  to  be  the  first 
governor — Robinson,  Viner,  Colleton,  Hayes,  Kirke, 
Millington  and  Portman  to  be  the  first  committee, 
to  which  elections  are  to  be  made  each  November. 
Their  territory  is  to  be  known  as  Rupert's  Land. 

1 20 


The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage 

Of  this  territory,  they  are  to  be  "true  and  absolute 
lords"  paying  as  token  of  allegiance  to  the  King 
when  he  shall  happen  to  enter  these  dominions  "two 
elks  and  two  black  beaver." 

Permission  is  given  to  build  forts,  employ  mari- 
ners, use  firearms,  pass  laws  and  impose  punish- 
ments. Balboa  has  been  laughed  at  ever  since  he 
crossed  Panama  to  the  Pacific  for  claiming  Heaven 
and  earth,  air  and  water,  "from  the  Pole  Arctic  to 
the  Pole  Antarctic"  for  Spain;  but  what  shall  we  say 
of  a  charter  that  goes  on  royally  to  add,  "and  further- 
more of  our  own  ample  and  abundant  grace  we 
have  granted  not  only  the  whole,  entire  and  only 
liberty  of  trade  to  and  from  the  territories  aforesaid ; 
but  also  the  whole  and  entire  trade  to  and  from  all 
Havens,  Bays,  Creeks,  Rivers,  Lakes,  and  Seas  unto 
which  they  shall  find  entrance  by  water  or  land  out 
of  the  territories  aforesaid  .  .  .  and  to,  and 
with,  all  other  nations  adjacent  to  the  said  territories, 
which  is  not  granted  to  any  other  of  our  subjects?" 

In  other  words,  if  trade  should  lead  these  Ad- 
venturers far  afield  from  Hudson  Bay  where  no 
other  discoverers  had  been — the  territory  was  to  be 
theirs.  For  years,  it  was  contended  that  the  charter 
covered  only  the  streams  tributary  to  Hudson  Bay, 
that  is  to  the  headwaters  of  Churchill  and  Saskatche- 
wan and  Moose  and  Rupert  Rivers,  but  if  the  charter 

121 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

was  to  be  valid  at  all,  it  was  to  be  valid  in  all  its  pro- 
vision and  the  company  might  extend  its  possessions 
indefinitely.  And  that  is  what  it  did — from  Hudson 
Bay  to  Alaska,  and  from  Alaska  to  California.  The 
debonair  King  had  presented  his  friends  with  three- 
quarters  of  America. 

All  other  traders  are  forbidden  by  the  charter  to 
frequent  the  territory  on  pain  of  forfeiture  of  goods 
and  ships.  All  other  persons  are  forbidden  to  in- 
habit the  territory  without  the  consent  of  the  Com- 
pany. Adventurers  at  the  General  Court  in  Novem- 
ber for  elections  are  to  have  votes  according  to  their 
stock,  for  every  hundred  pounds  one  vote.  The 
Company  is  to  appoint  local  governors  for  the  terri- 
tory with  all  the  despotic  power  of  little  kings.  In 
case  of  misdemeanors,  law-breakers  may  be  brought 
before  this  local  governor  or  home  to  England  for 
trial,  sentence,  and  punishment.  The  Shah  of 
Persia  had  not  more  despotic  power  in  his  lands  than 
these  local  governors.  Most  amazing  of  all,  the 
Company  is  to  have  power  to  make  war  against  other 
"Prince  or  People  whatsoever  that  are  not  Christ- 
ians," "for  the  benefit  of  (he  said  company  and  their 
trade."  Should  other  English  intrude  on  the  ter- 
ritory, the  Company  is  explicitly  granted  the  right 
to  seize  and  expel  them  and  impose  such  punishment 
as  the  offense  may  warrant.    If  delinquents  appeal 

122 


The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage 

against  such  sentence,  the  Company  may  send  them 
home  to  England  for  trial.  Admirals,  judges, 
sheriffs,  all  officers  of  the  law  in  England  are  charged 
by  the  charter  to  "aid,  favor,  help  and  assist"  the 
Company  by  "land  and  sea.  .  .  "  signed  at 
Westminster,  May  2,  1670. 

We  of  to-day  may  well  smile  at  such  a  charter; 
but  we  must  remember  that  the  stones  which  lie 
buried  in  the  clay  below  the  wall  are  just  as  essential 
to  the  superstructure  as  the  visible  foundation.  Let 
us  grant  that  the  charter  was  an  absurd  fiat  creating 
a  tyranny.  It  was  an  essential  first  step  on  the  trail 
that  was  to  blaze  a  way  through  the  wilderness  to 
democracy. 

In  the  charter  lay  the  secret  of  all  the  petty  pomp 
— little  kings  in  tinsel — with  which  the  Company's 
underling  officers  ruled  their  domain  for  tv/o  hundred 
years.  In  the  charter  lay  the  secret  of  all  the  Com- 
pany's success  and  all  its  failure;  of  its  almost 
paternal  care  of  the  Indians  and  of  its  outrageous, 
unblushing,  banditti  warfare  against  rivals;  of  its 
one-sidedness  in  driving  a  bargain — the  true  caste 
idea  that  the  many  are  created  for  exploitation  by 
the  few — of  its  almost  royal  generosity  when  a  de- 
pendent fell  by  the  way — the  old  monarchical  idea 
that  a  king  is  responsible  for  the  well-being  of  his 
subjects,  when  other  great  commercial  monopolists 

123 


Th&  Conquest  oj  the  Great  Northwest 

cast  their  useless  dependents  off  like  old  clothes,  or 
let  them  rot  in  poverty.  Given  all  the  facts  of  the 
case,  any  man  can  play  the  prophet.  With  such  a 
charter,  believing  in  its  validity  as  they  did  in  their 
own  existence,  it  is  not  surprising  the  Adventurers  of 
Hudson  Bay  ran  the  magnificent  career  the  Company 
has  had,  and  finally — ran  their  privileges  aground. 

Thus,  then,  was  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in- 
corporated. Its  first  stock  book  of  1667  before  in- 
corporation, shows  the  Duke  of  York  to  have  £300 
of  stock;  Prince  Rupert,  £4'jo;  Carterett,  £^^0  in 
all;  Albermarle,  £500;  Craven,  £300;  Arlington, 
£200;  Shaftsbury,  £600;  Viner,  ;^3oo;  Colleton, 
;^30o;  Hungerford,  ;^3oo;  Sir  James  Hayes,  £1800; 
Sir  John  Kirke,  ;^3oo;  Lady  Margaret  Drax,  ;^3oo 
— with  others,  in  all  a  capital  of  ;£io,5oo.  The  most 
of  these  shares  were  not  subscribed  in  cash.  It  may 
be  inferred  that  the  Duke  of  York  and  Prince  Rupert 
and  Carterett  and  Sir  James  Hayes  received  their 
shares  for  obtaining  the  ships  from  the  Admiralty. 
Indeed,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  very  little 
actual  cash  was  subscribed  for  the  first  voyages. 
The  seamen  were  impressed  and  not  usually  paid, 
as  the  account  books  show,  until  after  the  sale  of 
the  furs,  and  the  provisions  were  probably  supplied 
on  credit  by  those  merchants  who  are  credited  with 

124 


The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage 

shares.  At  least,  the  absence  of  any  cash  account 
or  strong  box  for  the  first  years,  gives  that  impression. 
Mr.  Portman,  the  merchant,  it  is,  or  Mr.  Young, 
or  Mr.  Kirke,  or  Robinson,  or  Colleton  who  ad- 
vance money  to  Radisson  and  Groseillers  as  they 
need  it,  and  the  stock  accounts  of  these  shareholders 
are  credited  with  the  amounts  so  advanced.  Gillam 
and  Stannard,  the  captains,  are  credited  with  ;i^i6o 
and  £280  in  the  venture,  as  if  they,  too,  accepted 
their  remuneration  in  stock. 

The  charter  was  granted  in  May.  June  saw 
Radisson  and  Groseillers  off  for  the  bay  with  three 
ships.  The  Wavero  under  Captain  Newland,  The 
Shajtshury  under  Captain  Shepperd,  The  Prince 
Rupert  under  Gillam,  in  all  some  forty  men.  The 
vessels  were  loaned  from  the  Admiralty.  Bayly 
went  as  governor  to  Rupert  River,  Gorst  as  secretary ; 
Peter  Romulus,  the  French  apothecary,  as  surgeon 
at  £20  a  year.  While  the  two  big  ships  spent  the 
summer  at  Charles  Fort,  Radisson  took  the  small 
boat  Wavero  along  the  south  shore  westward,  ap- 
parently seeking  passage  to  the  South  Sea.  Monsibi 
flats,  now  known  as  Moose,  and  Schatawan,  now 
known  as  Albany,  and  Cape  Henrietta  Maria  named 
after  royalty,  were  passed  on  the  cruise  up  west  and 
north  to  Nelson,  where  Radisson  himself  erected 

125 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  English  King's  Arms.  Only  a  boat  of  shallow 
draft  could  coast  these  regions  of  salt  swamps,  muddy 
fiats  and  bowlder-strewn  rocky  waters.  Moose 
River  with  its  enormous  drive  of  ice  stranded  on 
the  fiats  for  miles  each  spring  was  found  by  Radisson 
to  have  three  channels.  Ninety-six  miles  northwest 
from  Moose  was  Albany  River  with  an  island  just  at 
its  outlet  suitable  for  the  building  of  a  fort.  Cape 
Henrietta  Maria,  three  hundred  miles  from  Moose, 
marked  where  James  Bay  widened  out  to  the  main 
waters  of  Hudson  Bay.  All  this  coast  was  so  shallow 
and  cut  by  gravel  bars  that  it  could  be  explored  only 
by  anchoring  The  Wavero  off  shore  and  approaching 
the  tamarack  swamps  of  the  land  by  canoe,  but  the 
whole  region  was  an  ideal  game  preserve  that  has 
never  failed  of  its  supply  of  furs  from  the  day  that 
Radisson  first  examined  it  in  1670  to  the  present. 
Black  ducks,  pintail,  teal,  partridge,  promised 
abundance  of  food  to  hunters  here,  and  Radisson 
must  have  noticed  the  walrus,  porpoise  and  seal 
floundering  about  in  the  bay  promising  another 
source  of  profit  to  the  Company.  North  of  Hen- 
rietta Cape,  Radisson  was  on  known  ground.  But- 
ton and  Fox  and  James  had  explored  this  coast. 
Port  Nelson  with  its  two  magnificent  harbors — 
Nelson  and  Hayes  River — taking  its  name  from 
Button's  seaman.   Nelson,   who  was  buried  here. 

126 


The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage 

Groseillers  wintered  on  the  bay  but  Radisson  came 
home  to  England  on  The  Prince  Rupert  with  Gillam 
and  passed  the  winter  in  London  as  advisor  to  the 
company.  This  year,  the  Company  held  its  meet- 
ings at  Prince  Rupert's  lodgings  in  Whitehall. 

In  the  summer  of  '71,  Radisson  was  again  on  the 
bay  cruising  as  before,  to  Moose,  and  Albany, 
and  Nelson  with  a  cargo  of  some  two  hundred  mus- 
kets, four  hundred  powderhorns  and  five  hundred 
hatchets  for  trade.  Though  Radisson  as  well  as 
Groseillers  spent  the  years  of  1771-72  on  the  bay, 
there  was  no  mistaking  the  fact — not  so  many  Indians 
were  bringing  furs  to  Rupert  River  for  trade.  Rad- 
isson reported  conditions  when  he  returned  to  Lon- 
don in  the  fall  of  '72,  and  he  linked  himself  more 
closely  to  the  interests  of  the  Company  by  marrying 
Mary,  the  daughter  of  Sir  John  Kirke. 

"It  is  ordered,"  read  the  minutes  of  the  Company, 
Oct.  23,  1673,  "that  The  Prince  Rupert  arriving 
at  Portsmouth,  Captain  Gillam  do  not  stire  from 
the  shippe  till  Mr.  Radisson  take  post  to  Lon- 
don with  the  report."  The  report  was  not  a  good 
one.  The  French  coming  overland  from  Canada 
were  intercepting  the  Indians  on  the  way  down  to 
the  bay.  The  Company  decided  to  appoint  another 
governor,  William  Lyddell,  for  the  west  coast,  and 
when  Radisson  went  back  to  the  bay  in  '74,  a  council 

127 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

was  held  to  consider  how  to  oppose  the  French. 
The  captains  of  the  ships  were  against  moving  west. 
Groseillers  and  Radisson  urged  Governor  Bayly  to 
build  new  forts  at  Moose  and  Albany  and  Nelson. 
Resentful  of  divided  authority,  Bayly  hung  between 
two  opinions,  but  at  length  consented  to  leave  Rupert 
River  for  the  summer  and  cruise  westward.  When 
he  came  back  to  Fort  Charles  in  August,  he  found 
it  occupied  by  an  emissary  from  New  France,  Father 
Albanel,  an  English  Jesuit,  with  a  passport  from 
Frontenac  recommending  him  to  the  English  Gov- 
ernor, and  with  personal  letters  for  the  two  French- 
men. 

Bayly's  rage  knew  no  bounds.  He  received  the 
priest  as  the  passports  from  a  friendly  nation  com- 
pelled him  to  do,  but  he  flared  out  in  open  accusa- 
tions against  Radisson  and  Groseillers  for  being  in 
collusion  with  rivals  to  the  Company's  trade.  A 
thousand  fictions  cling  round  this  part  of  Radisson's 
career.  It  is  said  that  the  two  Frenchmen  knocked 
down  and  were  knocked  down  by  the  English  Gov- 
ernor, that  spies  were  set  upon  them  to  dog  their 
steps  when  they  went  to  the  woods,  that  Bayly 
threatened  to  run  them  through,  and  that  the  two 
finally  escaped  through  the  forests  overland  back 
to  New  France  with  Albanel,  the  Jesuit. 

All  these  are  childish  fictions  directly  contradicted 
128 


The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage 

by  the  facts  of  the  case  as  stated  in  the  official  min- 
utes of  the  Company.  No  doubt  the  little  fort  was  a 
tempest  in  a  teapot  till  the  Jesuit  departed,  but 
quietus  was  given  to  the  quarrels  by  the  arrival,  on 
September  17,  of  William  Lyddell  on  The  Prince 
Rupert,  governor-elect  for  the  west  coast.  Radisson 
decided  to  go  home  to  England  and  lay  the  whole 
case  before  the  Company.  There  is  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  he  was  desperately  dissatisfied  with  his 
status  among  the  Adventurers.  He  had  found  the 
territory.  He  had  founded  the  Company.  He  had 
given  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  its  advancement, 
and  they  had  not  even  credited  him  as  a  shareholder. 
When  he  returned  to  England,  they  accepted  proof 
of  his  loyalty,  asking  only  that  he  take  oath  of  fidelity, 
but  financially,  his  case  had  already  been  prejudged. 
He  was  not  to  be  a  partner.  At  a  meeting  in  June, 
it  was  ordered  that  he  be  allowed  £100  a  year  for 
his  services.  That  is,  he  was  to  be  their  servant. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  was  already  in  debt  for  living 
expenses.  In  his  pocket  were  the  letters  Albanel 
had  brought  overland  to  the  bay  and  offers  direct 
from  Mons.  Colbert,  himself,  of  a  position  in  the 
French  navy,  payment  of  all  debts  and  a  gratuity  of 
some  £400  to  begin  life  anew  if  he  would  go  over  to 
Paris.  Six  weeks  from  the  time  he  had  left  the  bay, 
Radisson  quit  the  Company's  services  in  disgust.     It 

129 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Great  Northwest 

was  the  old  story  of  the  injustice  he  had  suffered  in 
Quebec — he,  the  creator  of  the  wealth,  was  to  have 
a  mere  pittance  from  the  monopolists.  Radisson 
could  not  induce  his  English  wife  to  go  with  him, 
but  he  sailed  for  France  at  the  end  of  October  in  1674. 
As  the  operations  of  the  Adventurers  were  now  to 
become  an  international  struggle  for  two  hundred 
years,  it  is  well  to  pause  from  the  narrative  of  stirring 
events  on  the  bay  to  take  a  glance  forward  on  the 
scope  and  influence  and  power  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  in  the  history  of  America. 

Notes  on  Chapter  VII. — For  authorities  on  this  chapter  see 
Chapters  VIII  and  IX.  To  those  familiar  with  the  subject,  this 
chapter  will  clear  up  a  great  many  discrepancies.  In  the  life 
of  Radisson  in  Pathfinders  of  the  West,  it  was  necessary  to  state 
frankly  that  his  movements  could  not  be  traced  definitely  at  this 
period  both  as  to  locale  and  time.  The  facts  of  this  chapter 
are  taken  solely  from  the  official  Stock  Books,  Minute  Books, 
Sailing  Directions  and  Journals  of  Hudson's  Bay  House,  London. 
Extracts  from  these  minutes  will  be  found  after  Chapter  VIII 
and  IX.  One  point  in  Pathfinders  of  the  West,  all  authorities 
differ  as  to  the  time  when  Radisson  left  the  company,  Albanel's 
Journal  in  the  Jesuit  Relations  being  of  1672,  Gorst's  record  of 
the  quarrel  in  1674,  and  other  accounts  placing  the  date  as  late 
as  1676.  My  examinations  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  records  show 
that  the  rupture  occurred  in  London  in  October,  1674.  How, 
then,  is  Albanel's  Relation  1672?  The  passport  from  Fronte- 
nac,  which  Albanel  delivered  to  Bayly — now  on  record  in  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  papers — is  dated,  Quebec,  Oct.  7,  1673.  If 
the  passport  only  left  Quebec  in  October,  1673,  and  Albanel 
reached  the  bay  m  August,  1674 — there  is  only  one  conclusion: 
the  date  of  his  journal,  1672,  is  wrong  by  two  years.  One  can 
easily  understand  how  this  would  occur  in  a  journal  made  up 
of  scraps  of  writing  jotted  down  in  canoes,  in  tepees,  every- 
where and  anywhere,  and  then  passed  by  couriers  from  hand 
to  hand  till  it  reached  the  Cramoisy  printers  of  Paris. 

A  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  dated  Sept.  25,  1675,  re- 
lates:    "This   day   came    The   Shaftsbury   Pink   ffrom    Hudson 

130 


The  Adventures  of  the  First  Voyage 


Baye.  Capt.  Shopard,  ye  capt.  tiles  me  thay  found  a  f ranch 
Jesuit  thare  that  did  endeavor  to  convert  ye  Indians  &  persuad 
them  not  to  trade  with  ye  EngHsh,  for  wh.  reason  they  have 
brought  him  away  with  them.  .  .  Capt.  Gillam  we  expect 
to-morrow." 

Later:  "This  day  is  arrived  Capt.  Gillam.  I  was  on  board 
of  him  and  he  tells  me  they  were  forced  to  winter  there  and 
spend  all  their  Provisions.  They  have  left  only  four  men  to 
keep  possession  of  the  place.  I  see  the  French  Jesuit  is  a  little 
ould  man." 


131 


CHAPTER  VIII 

1670-1870 

"gentlemen  adventurers  of  ENGLAND" — LORDS 
OF  THE  OUTER  MARCHES — TWO  CENTURIES  OF 
COMPANY  RULE — SECRET  OATHS — THE  USE  OF 
WHISKEY  —  THE  MATRIMONIAL  OFFICES  —  THE 
PART  THE  COMPANY  PLAYED  IN  THE  GAME  OF 
INTERNATIONAL  JUGGLING — HOW  TRADE  AND 
VOYAGES  WERE  CONDUCTED 

JUST  where  the  world's  traffic  converges  to  that 
roaring  maelstrom  in  front  of  the  Royal  Ex- 
change, London — on  Lime  Street,  off  Leaden- 
hall  Street — stands  an  unpretentious  gray  stone 
building,  the  home  of  a  power  that  has  held  unbroken 
sway  over  the  wilds  of  America  for  two-and-a-half 
centuries.  It  is  the  last  of  those  old  companies 
granted  to  royal  favorites  of  European  courts  for 
the  partitioning  of  America. 

To  be  sure,  when  Charles  II  signed  away  sole 
rights  of  trade  and  possession  to  all  countries  border- 
ing on  the  passage  supposed  to  lead  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  South  Sea,  he  had  not  the  faintest  notion  that 
he  was  giving  to  ^Hhe  Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  Eng- 

132 


'''Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England'' 

land  Trading  on  Hudson^ s  Bay,''^  three-quarters  of 
a  new  continent.  Prince  Rupert,  Albermarle,  Shafts- 
bury,  the  Carteretts  and  half  a  dozen  others  had 
helped  him  back  to  his  throne,  and  with  a  Stuart's 
good-natured  belief  that  the  world  was  made  for  the 
king's  pleasure,  he  promptly  proceeded  to  carve  up 
his  possessions  for  his  friends.  Only  one  limitation 
was  specified  in  the  charter  of  1670 — the  lands  must 
be  those  not  already  claimed  by  any  Christian  power. 
But  Adventurers  on  booty  bound  would  sail  over 
the  edge  of  the  earth  if  it  were  flat,  and  when  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  found,  instead  of  a  passage 
to  the  fabulous  South  Sea,  a  continental  watershed 
whence  mighty  rivers  rolled  north,  east,  south,  over 
vaster  lands  than  those  island  Adventurers  had  ever 
dreamed — was  it  to  turn  back  because  these  coun- 
tries didn't  precisely  border  on  Hudson's  Bay?  The 
Company  had  been  chartered  as  Lords  of  the  Outer 
Marches,  and  what  were  Outer  Marches  for,  but 
to  march  forward?  For  a  hundred  years,  the  world 
heard  very  little  of  these  wilderness  Adventurers 
except  that  they  were  fighting  for  dear  life  against 
the  French  raiders,  but  when  Canada  passed  to 
the  English,  Hudson's  Bay  canoes  were  threading 
the  labyrinthine  waterways  of  lake  and  swamp  and 
river  up  the  Saskatchewan,  down  the  Athabasca, 
over  the  mountain  passes  to  the  Columbia.    Hudson's 

133 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


Bay  fur  brigades  were  sweeping  up  the  Ottawa 
to  Abbittibbi,  to  the  Assiniboine,  to  MacKenzie 
River,  to  the  Arctic  Circle.  Hudson's  Bay  buffalo 
runners  hunted  the  plains  from  the  Red  River  to 
the  Missouri.  Hudson's  Bay  Rocky  Mountain 
brigades — one,  two,  three  hundred  horsemen,  fol- 
lowed by  a  ragged  rabble  of  Indian  retainers — 
yearly  scoured  every  valley  between  Alaska  and 
Mexico  in  regular  platoons,  so  much  territory  as- 
signed to  each  leader — Oregon  to  McLoughlin,  the 
Snake  Country  to  Ogden,  the  Umpqua  to  Black  or 
McLeod,  the  Buffalo  Country  to  Ross  or  some  other, 
with  instructions  not  to  leave  a  beaver  alive  on  the 
trail  wherever  there  were  rival  American  traders. 
Hudson's  Bay  vessels  coasted  from  the  Columbia  to 
Alaska.  The  Adventurers  could  not  dislodge  Baran- 
off  from  Sitka,  but  they  explored  the  Yukon  and  the 
Pelly,  and  the  official  books  show  record  of  a  farm 
where  San  Francisco  now  stands.  Beginning  with 
a  score  of  men,  the  Company  to-day  numbers  as 
many  servants  as  the  volunteer  army  of  Canada. 
Railroads  to  Eastern  ports  now  do  the  work  of  the 
four  or  five  armed  frigates  that  used  yearly  to  come 
for  the  furs,  but  two  company  ships  still  carry  pro- 
visions through  the  ice  floes  of  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
on  every  navigable  river  of  the  inland  North,  floats 
the  flag  of  the  Company's  steamers.     The  brigades 

134 


** Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England" 

of  fur  canoes  can  yet  be  seen  at  remote  posts  like 
Abbittibbi;  and  the  dog  trains  still  tinkle  across  the 
white  wastes  bringing  down  the  mid-winter  furs 
from  the  North. 

The  old  Company  has  the  unique  distinction  of 
being  the  only  instance  of  feudalism  transplanted 
from  Europe  to  America,  which  has  flourished  in 
the  new  soil.  Other  royal  companies  of  Virginia, 
of  Maryland,  of  Quebec,  became  part  of  the  new 
democracy.  Only  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  re- 
mains. The  charter  which  by  ''the  Grace  of  God" 
and  the  stroke  of  a  pen  gave  away  three-quarters  of 
America — was,  itself,  pure  feudalism.  Oaths  of 
secrecy,  implicit  obedience  of  every  servant  to  the 
man  immediately  above  him — the  canoemen  to  the 
steersman,  the  trader  to  the  chief  factor,  the  chief 
factor  to  the  governor,  the  governor  to  the  king — 
dependence  of  the  Company  on  the  favor  of  the  royal 
will — all  these  were  pure  feudalism.  Prince  Rupert 
was  the  first  governor.  The  Duke  of  York,  after- 
wards King  James,  was  second.  Marlborough,  the 
great  general,  came  third ;  and  Lord  Strathcona,  the 
present  governor,  as  High  Commissioner  for  Canada, 
stands  in  the  relation  of  ambassador  from  the  colony 
to  the  mother  country.  Always  the  Company  has 
been  under  the  favor  of  the  court. 

135 


Tlw  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Formerly,  every  shareholder  had  to  make  solemn 
oath:  "I  doe  sweare  to  bee  True  6^  jaithjull  to  ye 
Governor  b^  Compy  oj  Adventurers  of  England 
Trading  into  Hudson^s  Bay  6^  to  my  power  will 
support  and  maintain  the  said  comply  6^  the  privi- 
leges oj  ye  same;  all  bye  laws  and  orders  not  repeated 
which  have  been  or  shall  be  made  by  ye  said  Governor 
df  Company  I  will  to  my  best  hiowledge  truly  observe 
and  keepe:  ye  secrets  oj  ye  said  company,  which  shall 
be  given  me  in  charge  to  conceale,  I  will  not  disclose; 
and  during  the  joint  stock  oj  ye  said  comply  I  will  not 
directly  nor  indirectly  trade  to  ye  limitts  oj  ye  said 
company s  charter  without  leave  oj  the  GovernW,  the 
Deputy  Governor  and  committee,  So  help  me  God.^' 

A  similar  oath  was  required  from  the  governor. 
Once  a  year,  usually  in  November,  the  shareholders 
met  in  a  general  session  called  the  General  Court, 
to  elect  officers — a  governor,  a  deputy  governor,  and 
a  committee  which  was  to  transact  details  of  busi- 
ness as  occasion  required.  Each  officer  was  re- 
quired to  take  oath  of  secrecy  and  fidelity.  This 
committee,  it  was,  that  appointed  the  captains  to 
the  vessels,  the  men  of  the  crews,  the  local  governors 
for  the  fur  posts  on  the  bay,  and  the  chief  traders, 
who  were  to  go  inland  to  barter.  From  all  of  these, 
oaths  and  bonds  of  fidelity  were  required.  He,  who 
violated  his  oath,  was  liable  to  forfeiture  of  wages 

136 


"'Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England" 

and  stock  in  the  Company.  In  all  the  minute  books 
for  two-and-a-half  centuries,  both  of  the  committee 
and  the  General  Court  which  I  examined,  there 
were  records  of  only  one  director  dismissed  for 
breaking  his  oath,  and  two  captains  discharged  for 
illicit  trade.  Compared  to  the  cut-throat  methods 
of  modern  business,  whose  promise  is  not  worth 
the  breath  that  utters  it  and  whose  perjuries  having 
become  so  common,  people  have  ceased  to  blush,  the 
old,  slow-going  Company  has  no  need  to  be  ashamed. 
Each  officer  in  his  own  sphere  was  as  despotic  as 
a  czar,  but  the  despotism  was  founded  on  good  will. 
When  my  Lord  Preston  did  the  Company  a  good  turn 
by  sending  Radisson  back  from  Paris  to  London, 
the  committee  of  1684  orders  the  warehouse  keeper 
"to  deliver  the  furrier  as  many  black  beaver  skins  as 
will  make  my  lord  a  fine  covering  for  his  bedd'^ — not 
a  bribe  before  the  good  turn,  but  a  token  of  good  will 
afterwards.  When  Mr.  Randolph  of  New  England 
arrests  Ben  Gillam  for  poaching  on  the  Company's 
preserve  up  on  Hudson  Bay,  the  committee  orders 
a  piece  of  plate  to  the  value  of  ;£io  for  Mr.  Randolph. 
When  King  Charles  and  the  Duke  of  York  interceded 
with  France  to  forbid  interlopers,  "two  pair  of  beaver 
stockings  are  ordered  for  the  King  and  the  Duke  of 
York;''  and  the  committee  of  April,  1684,  instructs 
"Sir  James  Hayes  do  attend  His  Royal  Highness 

137 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


at  Windsor  and  present  him  his  dividend  in  gold  in 
a  faire  embroidered  purse.''  For  whipping  "those 
vermin,  those  enemies  of  all  mankind,  the  French,'* 
the  Right  Honorable  Earl  John  Churchill  (Marl- 
borough) is  presented  with  a  cat-skin  counterpane. 

The  General  Court  and  weekly  committee  meet- 
ings were  held  at  the  very  high  altars  of  feudalism — 
in  the  White  Tower  built  by  William  the  Conqueror, 
or  at  Whitehall  where  lived  the  Stuarts,  or  at  the 
Jerusalem  Coffee  House,  where  scions  of  nobility 
met  the  money  lenders  and  where  the  Company 
seems  to  have  arranged  advances  on  the  subscribed 
stock  to  outfit  each  year's  ships.  Often,  the  com- 
mittee meetings  wound  up  with  orders  for  the  secre- 
tary "to  bespeake  a  cask  of  canary  for  ye  governor," 
or  "a  hogshead  of  claret  for  ye  captains  sailing  from 
Gravesend,"  to  whom  "ye  committee  wished  a  God 
speed,  a  good  wind  and  a  faire  saile." 

When  the  Stuart  line  gave  place  to  a  new  regime, 
the  Company  hastened  to  King  William  at  Kensing- 
ton, and  as  the  minutes  of  Oct.  i,  1690,  record — 
"having  the  Honour  to  be  introduced  into  His 
Majesty's  do s sett  .  .  .  the  Deputy-Governor  Sir 
Edward  Bering  delivered   himself  in   these  words. 

.  .  .  May  it  Please  your  Majesty — Your  Maj- 
esty's most  loyal  and  dutifull  subjects,  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  begg  leave  most  humbly  to  congratu- 

138 


*' Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England" 

late  your  Majesty's  Happy  Returne  home  with  hon- 
ours and  safety.  And  wee  doo  daily  pray  to  Heaven 
{that  Hath  God  wonderfully  preserved  your  Royall 
person)  that  in  all  your  undertakings,  your  Majesty 
may  bee  as  victorious  as  Caesar,  as  Beloved  as  Titus, 
and  {after  all)  have  the  glorious  long  reign  and  peace- 
full  end  of  Augustus.  .  .  .  We  doo  desire  also 
most  humbly  to  present  to  your  Majesty  a  dividend  of 
three  hundred  guineas  upon  three  hundred  pounds 
stock  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  now  Rightfully 
devolved  to  your  Majesty.  And  altho  we  have  been 
the  greatest  sufferers  of  any  Company,  from  these  com- 
mon enemies  off  all  mankind,  the  French,  yet  when 
your  Majesty's  just  arms  shall  have  given  repose  to 
all  Christendom,  wee  also  shall  enjoy  our  share  of 
those  great  Benefitts  and  doo  not  doubt  but  to  appeare 
often  with  this  golden  fruit  in  our  hands — And  the 
Deputy-Governor  upon  his  k?tees  humbly  presented 
to  his  Majesty,  the  purse  of  gold  .  .  .  and  then 
the  Deputy-Governor  and  all  the  rest  had  the  honour 
to  kiss  His  Majesty's  Hand." 

Holding  its  privilege  by  virtue  of  royal  favor,  the 
Company  was  expected  to  advance  British  dominion 
abroad  and  resist  all  enemies.  For  exactly  one 
hundred  years  (1682-1782)  it  fought  the  ground  inch 
by  inch  against  the  French.     From  1698,  agents  were 

139 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

kept  in  Russia  and  Holland  and  Germany  to  watch 
the  fur  markets  there,  and  when  the  question  of 
designating  the  bounds  between  Russian  Alaska 
and  British  Columbia,  came  up  between  England 
and  Russia,  it  was  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
that  the  British  Government  relied  for  the  defense 
of  its  case.  Similarly,  when  the  United  States  took 
over  Louisiana,  the  British  Government  called  on 
the  Company  in  1807  to  state  what  the  limits  ought 
to  be  between  Louisiana  and  British  America.  But 
perhaps  the  most  notoriously  absurd  part  the  Com- 
pany ever  played  internationally  was  in  connection 
with  what  is  known  as  "  the  Oregon  question."  The 
bad  feeling  over  that  imbroglio  need  not  be  recalled. 
The  modern  Washington  and  Oregon — broadly 
speaking,  regions  of  greater  wealth  than  France — 
were  at  stake.  The  astonishing  thing,  the  untold 
inside  history  of  the  whole  episode  was  that  after 
insisting  on  joint  occupancy  for  years  and  refusing 
to  give  up  her  claims,  England  suddenly  kow-towed 
flat  without  rhyme  or  reason.  The  friendship  of 
the  Company's  chief  factor,  McLoughlin,  for  the  in- 
coming American  settlers  of  Oregon,  has  usually 
been  given  as  the  explanation.  Some  truth  there 
may  be  in  this,  for  the  settlers'  tented  wagon  was 
always  the  herald  of  the  hunter's  end,  but  the  real 
reason  is  good  enough  to  be  registered  as  melodrama 

140 


^''Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England'' 

to  the  everlasting  glory  of  a  martinet  officer's  igno- 
rance. Aberdeen  was  the  British  minister  who  had 
the  matter  in  hand.  His  brother,  Captain  Gordon 
in  the  Pacific  Squadron  was  ordered  to  take  a  look 
over  the  disputed  territory.  In  vain  the  fur  traders 
of  Oregon  and  Vancouver  Island  spread  the  choicest 
game  on  his  table.  He  could  not  have  his  English 
bath.  He  could  not  have  the  comforts  of  his  Eng- 
lish bed.  He  had  bad  luck  deerstalking  and  worse 
luck  fishing.  Asked  if  he  did  not  think  the  moun- 
tains magnificent,  his  response  was  that  he  would 
not  give  the  bleakest  hill  in  Scotland  for  all  these 
mountains  in  a  heap.  Meanwhile,  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  was  wasting  candle  light  in  London 
preparing  the  British  case  for  the  retention  of  Oregon. 
Matters  hung  fire.  Should  it  be  joint  occupancy, 
"fifty-four-forty  or  fight,"  or  compromise?  Aber- 
deen's brother  on  leave  home  was  called  in. 

"Oregon?      Oregon?"      Yes,    Gordon    remem- 
bered Oregon.     Been  there  fishing  last  year,  and 

"the  fish  wouldn't  rise  to  the  fly  worth  a  d ! 

Let  the  old  country  go!"  This,  in  a  country  where 
fish  might  be  scooped  out  in  tubfuls  without  either 
fly  or  line! 

The  committeemen  meeting  to  transact  the  details 
of  business  were,  of  course,  paid  a  small  amount, 

141 


Tlie  CofKjuc'^t  uf  the  Great  Northwest 

but  coming  together  in  the  court,  itself,  or  in  the 
jolly  chambers  of  a  gay  gallant  like  Prince  Rupert, 
or  at  the  Three  Tunns,  or  at  the  Golden  Anchor, 
great  difficulty  was  experienced  in  calling  the  gen- 
tlemen to  order,  and  the  law  was  early  passed,  ^'yt 
whensoever  the  committee  shall  he  summoned,  yt  one 
hour  after  ye  Deputy-Governor  turns  up  ye  glass, 
whosoever  does  not  appear  before  the  glass  runs  out, 
shall  lose  his  committee  money. ^^  The  "glass,^^  it 
may  be  explained,  was  the  hourglass,  not  the  one 
for  the  "cask  of  canary."  Later  on,  fines  were  im- 
posed to  be  put  in  the  Poor  Box,  which  was  estab- 
lished as  the  minutes  explain,  *'a  token  of  gratitude 
for  God's  great  blessing  to  the  company,"  the  pro- 
ceeds to  go  to  old  pensioners,  to  those  wounded  in 
service,  or  to  wives  and  children  of  the  dead. 

The  great  events  of  the  year  to  the  committee  were 
the  dispatching  of  the  boats,  the  home-coming  of  the 
cargoes  and  the  public  sales  of  the  furs.  Between 
these  events,  long  recesses  were  taken  without  any 
evidence  that  the  Company  existed  but  a  quiet  dis- 
tribution of  dividends,  or  a  courier  spurring  post- 
haste from  Southhampton  with  w^ord  that  one  of 
the  Company's  ships  had  been  captured  by  the 
French,  the  Company's  cargo  sold,  the  Company's 
ship  sunk,  the  Company's  servants  left  rotting  in 
some  dungeon  waiting  for  ransom.     From  January 

142 


''Gentlevien  Adventurers  of  England" 

to  April,  all  was  bustle  preparing  the  ships,  two  in 
the  first  years,  later  three  and  four  and  five  armed 
frigates,  to  sail  to  the  bay.  Only  good  ice-goers 
were  chosen,  built  of  staunchest  oak  or  ironwood, 
high  and  narrow  at  the  prow  to  ride  the  ice  and  cut 
the  floes  by  sheer  weight.  Then  captains  and  crews 
were  hired,  some  captains  sailing  for  the  Company 
as  long  as  forty  years.  Goods  for  trade  were  stowed 
in  the  hold,  traps,  powder,  guns,  hatchets,  blankets, 
beads,  rope;  and  the  committee  orders  the  secretary 
''/o  bespeake  a  good  rat  catcher  to  kill  the  vermin  that 
injure  our  heaver,''''  though  whether  this  member  of 
the  crew  was  biped  or  quadruped  does  not  appear. 
A  surgeon  accompanied  each  ship.  The  secret  sig- 
nals left  in  duplicate  with  the  posts  on  the  bay  the 
year  before  were  then  given  to  the  captains,  for  if 
any  ship  approached  the  bay  without  these  signals 
the  forts  had  orders  to  fire  their  cannon  at  the  in- 
truder, cut  the  harbor  buoys,  put  out  all  lights  and 
do  all  they  could  to  cause  the  interlopers'  wreck.  If 
taken  by  pirates,  all  signals  were  to  be  thrown  over- 
board, and  the  captains  were  secretly  instructed  how 
high  a  ransom  they  might  in  the  name  of  the  Company 
offer  their  captors.  On  the  day  of  sailing,  usually 
in  early  June,  the  Committee  went  down  on  horse- 
back to  Gravesend.  Lockers  were  searched  for 
goods  that  might  be  hidden  for  clandestine  trade, 

143 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


for  independent  trade,  even  to  the  extent  of  one 
muskrat,  the  Company  would  no  more  tolerate  than 
diamond  miners  will  allow  a  private  deal  in  their 
mine.  These  searchers  examined  the  ships  for 
hidden  furs  when  she  came  home,  just  as  rigorously  as 
the  customs  officers  examine  modern  baggage  on 
any  Atlantic  liner.  The  same  system  of  search  was 
exercised  among  the  workers  on  the  furs  of  the  Com- 
pany's warehouses,  the  men  being  examined  when 
they  entered  in  the  morning,  and  when  they  left  at 
night.  For  this,  the  necessity  was  and  is  yet  plain. 
Rare  silver  fox  skins  have  been  sold  at  auction  for 
;£2oo,  ,^300,  £400,  even  higher  for  a  fancy  skin. 
Half  a  dozen  such  could  be  concealed  in  a  winter 
overcoat.  That  the  searchers  could  no  more  prevent 
clandestine  trade  than  the  customs  can  smuggling — 
goes  without  saying.  Illicit  trade  was  the  pest  of 
the  committeeman's  life.  Captains  and  crews,  traders 
and  factors  and  directors  were  alike  dismissed  and 
prosecuted  for  it.  The  Company  were  finally  driven 
to  demanding  the  surrender  of  even  personal  cloth- 
ing, fur  coats,  mits,  caps,  from  returning  servants. 
On  examination,  this  was  always  restored. 

The  search  over,  wages  were  paid  to  the  seamen 
with  an  extra  half-crown  for  good  luck.  The  com- 
mittee then  shook  hands  with  the  crew.  A  parting 
cheer — and  the  boats  would  be  gone  for  six  months, 

144 


^'Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England" 

perhaps  forever,  for  wrecks  were  frequent,  so  fre- 
quent that  they  are  a  story  of  heroism  and  hardship 
by  themselves.  Nor  have  the  inventions  of  modern 
science  rendered  the  dangers  of  the  ice  floes  less. 
There  are  fewer  Hudson's  Bay  Company  ships  among 
the  floes  now  than  in  the  middle  period  of  its  exis- 
tence, but  half  a  dozen  terrible  wrecks  mark  its  latter 
history,  one  but  a  few  years  ago,  when  a  $300,000 
cargo  went  to  the  bottom;  the  captain  instead  of 
being  dismissed  was  presented  by  Lloyds  with  gold 
plate  for  preventing  another  wreck  in  a  similar 
jam  the  next  year.  Pirates,  were,  of  course,  keener 
to  waylay  the  ships  home-bound  with  furs  than  out- 
going, but  armed  convoys  were  usually  granted  by 
the  Government  at  least  as  far  as  the  west  Irish  coast. 

One  of  the  quaintest  customs  that  I  found  in  the 
minute  books  was  regarding  the  home-coming  ships. 
The  money,  that  had  accrued  from  sales  during  the 
ships'  absence,  was  kept  in  an  iron  box  in  the  ware- 
house on  Fenchurch  Street.  It  ranged  in  amount 
from  £2,000  to  £11,000.  To  this,  only  the  governor 
and  deputy-governor  had  the  keys.  Banking  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  word  was  not  begun  till  1735. 
When  the  ships  came  in,  the  strong  box  was  hauled 
forth  and  the  crews  paid. 

After  the  coming  of  the  cargoes  the  sales  of  the 
furs  were  held  in  December,  or  March,  by  public 

145 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

auction  if  possible,  but  in  years  when  war  demoral- 
ized trade,  by  private  contract.  This  was  the  cli- 
max of  the  year  to  the  fur  trader.  Even  during  the 
century  when  the  French  raiders  swept  the  bay,  an 
average  of  ten  thousand  beaver  a  year  was  brought 
home.  Later,  otter  and  mink  and  marten  and 
ermine  became  valuable.  These,  the  common  furs, 
whalebone,  ivory,  elks'  hoofs  and  whale  blubber  made 
up  the  lists  of  the  winter  sales.  Before  the  days  of 
newspapers,  the  lists  were  posted  in  the  Royal  Ex- 
change and  sales  held  ''by  candle"  in  lieu  of  auc- 
tioneer's hammer — a  tiny  candle  being  lighted,  pins 
stuck  in  at  intervals  along  the  shaft,  and  bids  shouted 
till  the  light  burned  out.  One  can  guess  with  what 
critical  caress  the  fur  fanciers  ran  their  hands  over 
the  soft  nap  of  the  silver  fox,  blowing  open  the  fur 
to  examine  the  depth  and  find  whether  the  pelt  had 
been  damaged  in  the  skinning.  Half  a  dozen  of 
these  rare  skins  from  the  fur  world  meant  more  than 
a  cargo  of  beaver.  What  was  it  anyway,  this  crea- 
ture rare  as  twentieth  century  radium,  that  was 
neither  blue  fox  nor  gray,  neither  cross  nor  black? 
Was  it  the  black  fox  changing  his  winter  coat  for 
summer  dress  just  caught  at  the  moment  by  the 
trapper,  or  the  same  fellow  changing  his  summer 
pelt  from  silver  to  black  for  winter?  Was  it  a  turn- 
ing of  the  black  hairs  to  silver  from  old  age,  trapped 

146 


''Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England'' 

luckily  just  before  old  age  had  robbed  the  fur  of 
its  gloss?  Was  it  senility  or  debility  or  a  splendid 
freak  in  the  animal  world  like  a  Newton  or  a  Shake- 
speare in  the  human  race?  Of  all  the  scientists  from 
Royal  Society  and  hall  of  learning,  who  came  to 
gossip  over  the  sales  at  the  coffee  houses,  not  one 
could  explain  the  silver  fox.  Or  was  the  soul  of  the 
fur  trader,  like  the  motto  painted  on  his  coat  of  arms 
by  John  Pinto  for  thirty  shillings,  in  December, 
1679 — Pro  Pelle  Cutem — not  above  the  value  of  a 
beaver  skin? 

Terse  business  methods  of  to-day,  where  the  sales 
are  advertised  in  a  newspaper  and  afterward  held 
apart  from  the  goods,  have  robbed  them  of  their  old- 
time  glamor,  for  the  sale  was  to  the  city  merchant 
what  the  circus  is  to  the  country  boy,  the  event  of  the 
year.  By  the  committee  of  Nov.  8,  1680,  ^'Sir 
James  Hayes  is  desired  to  choose  3  doz.  bottles  of  sack 
df  3  doz.  of  claret  to  be  given  the  buyers  at  the  sale  df 
a  dinner  to  be  spoke  at  the  Stellyarde,  Mr.  Stone  to 
bespeake  a  good  dish  of  fish,  a  Hone  of  veale,  2  pullets 
and  4  ducks. ^^ 

In  early  days  when  the  Company  had  the  field  to 
itself,  and  sent  out  only  a  score  or  two  of  men  in  two 
small  ships,  ;^2o,ooo  worth  of  beaver  were  often  sold 
in  a  year,  so  that  after  paying  back  money  advanced 
for  outfit  and   wages,   the   Company  was  able  to 

147 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

declare  a  dividend  of  50  per  cent,  on  stock  that  had 
been  twice  trebled.  Then  came  the  years  of  the 
conflict  with  France — causing  a  loss  in  forts  and  furs 
of  £100,543.  Though  small  cargoes  of  beaver  were 
still  brought  home,  returns  were  swamped  in  the 
expenses  of  the  fight.  No  dividends  were  paid  for 
twenty  years.  The  capital  stock  was  all  out  as 
security  for  loans,  and  the  private  fortunes  of  di- 
rectors pledged  to  keep  the  tradesmen  clamoring  for 
payment  of  outfits  quiet.  Directors  borrowed  money 
on  their  own  names  for  the  payment  of  the  crews, 
and  the  officers  of  the  Company,  governors,  chief 
factors  and  captains  were  paid  in  stock.  Then 
came  the  peace  of  1713  and  a  century's  prosperity, 
when  sales  jumped  from  ;^2o,ooo  to  £30,000  and 
£70,000  a  year.  In  five  years  all  debts  were  paid, 
but  the  Company  had  learned  a  lesson.  To  hold 
its  ground,  it  must  strengthen  grip.  Instead  of  two 
small  sloops,  four  and  five  armed  frigates  were  sent 
out  with  crews  of  thirty  and  forty  and  sixty  men. 
Eight  men  used  to  be  deemed  sufficient  to  winter  at 
a  fur  post.  Thirty  and  forty  and  sixty  were  now 
kept  at  each  post,  the  number  of  posts  increased, 
some  of  them  built  and  manned  like  beleaguered 
fortresses,  and  that  forward  march  begun  across 
America  which  only  ended  on  the  borders  of  the 
Pacific  and  the  confines  of  Mexico.    Though  the 

148 


''Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England'' 

returns  were  now  so  large  from  the  yearly  cargo, 
dividends  never  went  higher  than  20  per  cent.,  fell  as 
low  as  six,  and  hardly  averaged  above  eight. 

Then  came  the  next  great  struggle  of  the  Company 
for  its  life — against  the  North-West  Company  in 
Canada  and  the  American  traders  in  the  Western 
States.  Sales  fell  as  low  as  £2,000.  Oddly  enough 
to-day,  with  its  monopoly  of  exclusive  trade  long 
since  surrendered  to  the  Canadian  Government,  its 
charter  gone,  free  traders  at  liberty  to  come  or  go, 
and  populous  cities  spread  over  two  thirds  of  its  old 
stamping  ground,  the  sales  of  the  Company  yield 
as  high  returns  as  in  its  palmiest  days. 

The  reason  is  this: 

It  was  only  in  regions  where  there  were  rival 
traders,  or  where  colonization  was  bound  to  come,  as 
in  the  Western  States,  that  the  fur  brigades  waged  a 
war  of  extermination  against  the  beaver.  Else- 
where, north  of  the  Saskatchewan  and  Athabasca, 
where  cold  must  forever  bar  out  the  settler  and  leave 
the  hunter  in  undisturbed  possession  of  his  game 
preserve,  the  Company  acted  as  a  nursery  for  the  fur- 
bearing  animals.  Indians  were  taught  not  to  kill 
in  summer,  not  to  kill  the  young,  to  leave  the  mother 
untouched.  Tales  are  told — and  the  tales  are  per- 
fectly true — of  Hudson's  Bay  fur  traders  taking  a 
particularly  long-barreled  old  musket  standing  it  on 

149 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  ground  and  ordering  the  poor,  deluded  Indian 
to  pile  furs  to  the  top  before  he  could  have  the  gun ; 
but  tO'  make  these  tales  entirely  true  it  should  be 
added  that  the  furs  were  muskrat  and  rabbit  killed 
out  of  season  not  worth  a  penny  apiece  in  the  Lon- 
don market  and  only  taken  to  keep  the  Indians 
going  till  a  year  of  good  hunting  came.  When  ar- 
raigned before  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, in  1857,  charged  with  putting  an  advance  of 
50  per  cent,  on  all  goods  traded  to  the  Indians,  and 
with  paying  ridiculously  small  prices  for  the  rare 
skins  in  proportion  to  what  they  had  paid  for  the 
poor,  the  Company  frankly  acknowledged  both  facts, 
but  it  was  proved  that  t^t,  per  cent,  of  the  advance 
represented  expenses  of  carriage  to  the  interior.  As 
for  the  other  charge,  the  Company  contended  that 
it  was  wiser  to  take  many  skins  that  were  absolutely 
worthless  and  buy  the  valuable  pelts  at  a  moderate 
price;  otherwise,  the  Indians  would  die  from  want 
in  bad  years,  and  in  good  years  kill  off  the  entire 
supply  of  the  rare  fur-bearing  animals.  Since  the 
surrender  of  the  monopoly,  countless  rival  traders 
have  invaded  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Company. 
None  has  yet  been  able  to  wean  the  Indians  away 
from  the  old  Company.  It  is  a  question  if  the 
world  shows  another  example  of  such  a  long-lived 
feudalism. 

150 


*' Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England''' 

Though  a  Hudson's  Bay  servant  could  not  take 
as  much  as  one  beaver  skin  for  himself,  every  man 
afield  had  as  keen  an  interest  in  the  total  returns  as 
the  shareholders  in  London.  This  was  owing  to  the 
bounty  system.  To  encourage  the  servants  and 
prevent  temptations  to  dishonesty,  the  Company  paid 
bounty  on  every  score  (20)  of  made  beaver  to  cap- 
tains, factors,  traders,  and  trappers,  in  amounts 
ranging  from  three  shillings  to  sixpence  a  score. 
Latterly,  this  system  has  given  place  to  larger  salaries 
and  direct  shareholding  on  the  part  of  the  servants, 
who  rise  in  the  service. 

A  change  has  also  taken  place  in  methods  of 
barter.  Up  to  1820,  beaver  was  literally  coin  of  the 
realm.  Mink,  marten,  ermine,  silver  fox,  all  were 
computed  as  worth  so  much  or  so  many  fractions  of 
beaver.  A  roll  of  tobacco,  a  pound  of  tea,  a  yard 
of  blazing-red  flannel,  a  powderhorn,  a  hatchet,  all 
were  measured  and  priced  as  worth  so  many  beaver. 
This  was  the  Indian's  coinage,  but  this,  too,  has  given 
way  to  modern  methods,  though  the  old  system  may 
perhaps  be  traced  among  the  far  Northern  tribes. 
The  account  system  was  now  used,  so  much  being 
consigned  to  each  factor,  for  which  he  was  respon- 
sible. The  trader,  in  turn,  advanced  the  Indian 
whatever  he  needed  for  a  yearly  outfit,  charging  it 
against  his  name.    This  was  repaid  by  the  year's 

151 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

hunt.  If  the  hunt  fell  short  of  the  amount,  the 
Indians  stood  in  debt  to  the  Company.  This  did 
not  in  the  least  prevent  another  advance  for  the 
next  year.  If  the  hunt  exceeded  the  debt,  the  Indian 
might  drav/  either  cash  or  goods  to  the  full  amount 
or  let  the  Company  stand  in  his  debt,  receiving  coins 
made  from  the  lead  of  melted  tea  chests  with  i,  2,  3 
or  4  B — beaver — stamped  in  the  lead,  and  the  mystic 
letters  N.  B.,  A.  R.,  Y.  F.,  E.  M.,  C.  R.,  H.  H.,  or 
some  other,  meaning  New  Brunswick  House,  Albany 
River,  York  Fort,  East  Main,  Churchill  River, 
Henley  House — names  of  the  Company's  posts  on 
or  near  the  bay.  And  these  coins  have  in  turn  been 
supplanted  by  modern  money. 

One  hears  much  of  the  Indians'  slavery  to  the 
Company  owing  to  the  debts  for  these  advances,  but 
any  one  who  knows  the  Indians'  infinite  capacity 
for  lounging  in  idleness  round  the  fort  as  long  as  food 
lasts,  must  realize  that  the  Company  had  as  much 
trouble  exacting  the  debt  as  the  Indian  could  pos- 
sibly have  in  paying  it. 

A  more  serious  charge  used  to  be  leveled  against 
the  fur  traders — the  wholesale  use  of  liquor  by  which 
an  Indian  could  be  made  to  give  away  his  furs  or 
sell  his  soul.  Without  a  doubt,  where  opposition 
traders  were  encountered — Americans  west  of  the 
Mississippi,    Nor'Westers    on    the    Saskatchewan, 

152 


""Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England" 

French  south  of  the  bay,  Russians  in  Alaska — Hquor 
and  laudanum,  bludgeon  and  bribe  were  plied  with- 
out stint.  Those  days  are  long  past.  For  his  safety's 
sake,  the  fur  trader  had  to  relinquish  the  use  of  liquor, 
and  for  at  least  a  century  the  strictest  rules  have  pro- 
hibited it  in  trade,  the  old  Russian  company  and 
the  Hudson's  Bay  binding  each  other  not  to  permit 
it.  And  I  have  heard  traders  say  that  when  trouble 
arose  at  the  forts  the  first  thing  done  by  the  Company 
was  to  split  open  the  kegs  in  the  fort  and  run  all 
liquor  on  the  ground. 

The  charge,  however,  is  a  serious  one  against  the 
Company's  past,  and  I  searched  the  minutes  for  the 
exact  records  on  the  worst  year.  In  1708,  conflict 
was  at  its  height  against  the  French.  The  highest 
record  of  liquor  sent  out  for  two  hundred  servants 
was  one  thousand  gallons — an  average  of  five  gallons 
a  trader  for  the  year,  or  less  than  two  quarts  a  month. 
In  1770,  before  the  fight  had  begun  with  the  Nor'- 
Westers,  the  Company  was  sending  out  two  hundred 
and  fifty  gallons  a  year  for  three  hundred  traders. 
In  1800,  when  Nor' Westers  and  Hudson's  Bay  came 
to  open  war  and  each  company  drove  the  other 
to  extremes  of  outlawry,  neither  had  intended  at 
the  beginning,  coureurs  falling  by  the  assassin's 
dagger,  a  Hudson's  Bay  governor  butchered  on 
the  open  field,  Indians  horsewhipped  for  daring  to 

153 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

communicate  with  rivals,  whole  camps  demoralized 
by  drugged  liquor,  the  highest  record  was  twelve 
thousand  six  hundred  gallons  of  brandy  sent  out  for 
a  force  of  between  4,000  or  5,000  men.  This  gives 
an  average  of  three  gallons  a  year  for  each  trader. 
So  that  however  terrible  the  use  of  liquor  proved  in 
certain  disgraceful  episodes  between  the  two  great 
British  companies — it  must  be  seen  that  the  orgies 
WTre  neither  general  nor  frequent. 

It  is  astonishing,  too,  to  take  a  map  of  North 
America  and  consider  what  exploration  stands  to  the 
credit  of  the  fur  traders.  They  were  first  overland 
from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Hudson  Bay,  and  first 
inland  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Mississippi — 
thanks  to  Radisson. 

In  the  exploration  of  the  Arctic,  who  stands 
highest?  It  was  a  matter  of  paralyzing  astonish- 
ment to  the  Company,  itself,  when  I  told  them  I  had 
counted  up  in  their  books  what  they  had  spent  on 
the  Northwest  Passage,  and  that  before  1800  they 
had  suffered  dead  loss  on  that  account  of  ;^i 00,000. 
Beginning  with  old  Captain  Knight  in  17 19,  who 
starved  to  death  on  Marble  Island  with  his  forty- 
three  men,  on  down  to  Hearne  in  1771,  and  Simpson 
and  Rae  in  later  days — that  story  of  exploration  is 
one  by  itself.    The  world  knows  of  Franklins  and 

154 


*' Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England''' 

Nansens,  but  has  never  heard  of  the  Company's 
humble  servants  whose  bones  are  bleaching  on  the 
storm-beaten  rocks  of  the  desolate  North.  Take 
that  bleak  desert  of  the  North,  Labrador — of  which 
modern  explorers  know  nothing — by  1750  Captain 
Coates  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  had  explored  its  shores 
at  a  loss  to  the  company  of  £26,000. 

Inland — by  1690,  that  ragamuffin  London  boy, 
Henry  Kelsey,  who  ran  away  with  the  Indians  and 
afterward  rose  to  greatness  in  the  service,  had  pene- 
trated to  the  present  province  of  Manitoba  and  to 
the  Saskatchewan.  The  MacKenzie  River,  the 
Columbia,  the  Fraser,  the  passes  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, the  Yukon,  the  Liard,  the  Pelly — all  stand  to 
the  credit  of  the  fur  trader.  And  every  state  north  of 
Louisiana,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  echoed  to  the 
tramp  of  the  fur  traders'  horses  sweeping  the  wilder- 
ness for  beaver.  Gentlemen  Adventurers,  they 
called  themselves,  but  Lords  of  the  Outer  Marches 
were  they,  truly  as  any  robber  barons  that  found  and 
conquered  new  lands  for  a  feudal  king. 

Old-fashioned  feudalism  marked  the  Company's 
treatment  of  its  dependents.  To-day,  the  Indian 
simply  brings  his  furs  to  the  trader,  has  free  egress  to 
the  stores,  and  goes  his  way  like  any  other  buyer. 
A  hundred  years  ago,  bartering  was  done  through  a 

155 


The  Conqueat  of  the  Great  Northwest 


small  wicket  in  the  gate  of  the  fort  palisades ;  but  in 
early  times,  the  governor  of  each  little  fort  felt  the 
pomp  of  his  glory  like  a  Highland  chief.  Decking 
himself  in  scarlet  coat  with  profusion  of  gold  lace  and 
sword  at  belt,  he  marched  out  to  the  Indian  camp 
with  bugle  and  fife  blowing  to  the  fore,  and  all  the 
white  servants  in  line  behind.  Bartering  was  then 
accomplished  by  the  Indian  chief,  giviiig  the  white 
chief  the  furs,  and  the  white  chief  formally  presenting 
the  Indian  chief  with  a  quid  pro  quo,  both  sides 
puffing  the  peace  pipe  like  chimney  pots  as  a  token 
of  good-fellowship. 

How  these  pompous  governors — little  men  in  stat- 
ure some  of  them — kept  their  own  servants  obedi- 
ent and  loyal  in  the  loneliness  of  these  wilderness 
wilds,  can  only  be  ascribed  to  their  personal  prowess. 
Of  course,  there  were  desertions,  desertions  to  the 
wild  life  and  to  the  French  overland  in  Canada  and 
to  the  Americans  south  of  the  boundary,  but  only 
once  was  payment  withheld  from  the  men  of  the  far 
fur  post  on  account  of  mutiny,  though  many  a 
mutiny  was  quelled  in  its  beginnings  by  the  governor 
doffing  his  dignity  and  laying  a  sound  drubbing  on 
the  back  of  the  mutineer.  The  men  were  paid  by 
bills  drawn  oil  the  home  office  to  the  amount  of  two 
thirds  of  their  wages,  the  other  third  being  kept 
against  their  return  as  savings.     Many  devices  were 

156 


''Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England" 

employed  to  keep  the  men  loyal.  Did  a  captain 
accomplish  a  good  voyage?  The  home  committee 
ordered  him  a  bounty  of  £150.  Hearne,  for  his  ex- 
plorations inland,  over  and  above  his  wages  was 
given  a  present  of  £200.  Did  a  man  suffer  from 
rigorous  climate?  The  committee  solemnly  indites: 
"£4,  smart  money,  for  a  frozen  toe."  Such  luck 
as  a  French  wood-runner  deserting  from  Canada 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  was  promptly  recognized  by 
the  order:  "To  Jan  Ba'tiste  Larlee,  £1-5,  a  periwig 
to  keep  him  loyal."  No  matter  to  what  desperate 
straits  war  reduced  the  Company's  finances,  it  was 
never  too  poor  to  pension  some  wreck  of  the  service, 
or  present  gold  plate  to  some  hero  of  the  fight,  or 
give  a  handsome  funeral  to  some  servant  who  died 
in  harness — "funeral  by  torch  light  and  linkmen, 
to  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  company  and  crew  in 
attendance,  £31."  Though  Governor  Semple  had 
been  little  more  than  a  year  on  the  field  when  he 
was  murdered,  the  Company  pensioned  both  his 
sisters  for  life.  The  humblest  servants  in  the  ranks 
— men  beginning  on  twenty  shillings  a  month,  like 
Kelsey,  and  Grimmington,  and  Hearne,  and  old 
Captain  Knight — were  urged  and  encouraged  to  rise 
to  the  highest  positions  in  the  Company.  The  one 
thing  required  was — absolute,  implicit,  unquestioning 
loyalty;  the  Company  could  do  no  wrong.    Quite  the 

157 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


funniest  instance  of  the  Company's  fatherly  care  for 
its  servants  was  the  matrimonial  office.  For  years, 
especially  in  time  of  war,  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  secure  apprentices  at  all,  though  the  agents  paid 
£2  as  bonus  on  signing  the  contract.  At  this  period 
in  the  Company's  history,  I  came  across  a  curious 
record  in  the  minutes.  A  General  Court  was  se- 
cretly called  of  which  no  entry  was  to  be  made  in 
the  minutes,  to  consider  the  proposals  of  one,  Mr. 
Andrew  Vallentine,  for  the  good  of  the  Company's 
service.  In  addition  to  the  shareholders'  general 
oath  of  secrecy,  every  one  attending  this  meeting  had 
to  take  solemn  vows  not  to  reveal  the  proceedings. 
What  could  it  be  about?  I  scanned  the  general 
minutes,  the  committee  books,  the  sub-committee 
records  of  shippings  and  sailings  and  wars.  It  was 
not  about  France,  for  proceedings  against  France 
were  in  the  open.  It  was  not  a  ''back-stairs"  fund, 
for  when  the  Company  wanted  favors  it  openly  sent 
purses  of  gold  or  beaver  stockings  or  cat-skin  counter- 
panes. But  farther  on  in  the  minutes,  when  the 
good  secretary  had  forgotten  all  about  secrecy,  I 
found  a  cryptic  entry  about  the  cryptic  gentleman, 
Mr.  Andrew  Vallentine — "that  all  entries  about  Mr. 
Andrew  Vallentine's  office  for  the  service  of  the 
Company  be  made  in  a  Booke  Aparte,"  and  that 
10  per  cent,  of  the  regular  yearly  dividends  go  as 

158 


**Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  Enqlancr' 

dowries  for  the  brides  of  the  apprentices,  the  cere- 
monies to  be  performed — not  by  any  unfrocked 
clergyman  under  the  rose — but  by  the  Honorable, 
the  Very  Reverend  Doctor  Sachcvcrcll  of  renown. 
The  business  with  the  gentleman  of  matrimonial 
fame  was  not  called  "a  marriage  oflice."  No  such 
clumsy  herding  of  fair  ones  to  the  altar,  as  in  Virginia 
and  Quebec,  where  brides  were  sent  in  shiploads 
and  exposed  on  the  town  square  like  slaves  at  the 
shambles.  The  Company's  matrimonial  venture  was 
kept  in  dignified  reserve,  that  would  send  down  no 
stigma  to  descendants.  It  was  organized  and  desig- 
nated as  a  separate  company;  certainly,  a  company 
of  two.  Later  on,  Mr.  Vallentine's  ofhce  being  too 
small  for  the  rush  of  business,  the  secretary,  ^'Mr. 
Potter  is  ordered  to  arrange  a  larger  office  for  Mr. 
Vallentine  in  the  Buttery  of  the  Company s  store 
housed  But  all  the  delightful  possibilities  hidden 
in  Mr.  Vallentine's  suggestive  name  and  in  the 
oleaginous  place  which  he  chose  for  his  matrimonial 
mart — failed  to  make  the  course  of  true  love  run 
smooth.  Mr.  Vallentine  entangled  the  Company  in 
lawsuits  and  on  his  death  in  1731,  the  ofhce  was 
closed. 

Notes  on  Foregoing  Chapters. — Groseillers's  name  is  given  in 
a  variety  of  ways,  the  full  name  being  Medard  Chouart  Gros- 
eillers — the  last  translated  by  the  English  as  "Goosebery," 
which  of  course  would  necessitate  the  name  being  spelled 
"Groseilliers." 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


The  account  of  the  passage  of  the  ships  across  the  Atlantic 
is  drawn  from  Radisson  Journals,  from  his  Petitions,  and  from 
the  Journal  of  Gillam  as  reported  by  Thomas  Gorst,  Bayly's 
secretary.  There  are  also  scraps  about  the  trip  in  Sir  James 
Hayes'  report  of  damage  to  The  Eaglet,  which  he  submitted  to 
the  Admiralty. 

The  relationship  of  Radisson  to  Groseillers  and  the  French 
version  of  the  quarrel  on  the  bay — are  to  be  found  in  the  life  of 
Radisson  in  Pathfinders  of  the  West.  Though  I  have  searched 
diligently,  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  single  authority,  ancient 
or  modern,  for  the  odd  version  given  by  several  writers  of 
Radisson  and  Groseillers  absconding  overland  to  New  France. 
The  statement  is  sheer  fiction — neither  more  nor  less,  as  the 
Minutes  of  Hudson's  Bay  House  account  for  Radisson's  move- 
ments almost  monthly  from  1667  to  1674,  when  he  left  London 
for  France. 

A  comical  story  is  current  in  London  about  the  charter. 
After  the  monopoly  was  relinquished  by  the  Company  in  1870 
and  its  territory  taken  over  by  Canada,  the  old  charter  was,  of 
course,  of  no  importance.  For  thirty  years  it  disappeared.  It 
was  finally  found  jammed  behind  old  papers  tumbled  down  the 
back  of  an  old  safe — and  this  was  the  charter  that  deeded  away 
three-quarters  of  America. 

Before  a  Parliamentary  Commission  on  March  10,  1749,  the 
Company  made  the  following  statement  concerning  its  stock: 
1676  October  16  It  appears  by  the  Company's  Books, 

that  their  stock  then  was ■  •  •£,  10,500 

1690  September  The  same  being  trebled  is.  .      21,000 

Which  made  the  Stock  to  be 31,500 

1720  August  29  This  Stock  being  again 
trebled  is 63,000 

Which  made  the  Stock  to  be 94,500 

And  a  subscription  then  taken  in  of 
10%  amounting  to 

Additional  Stock 9,450 

Which  makes  the  present  Amount  of 

the  Stock  to  be 103,950 

The  minutes  of  the  Company  and  Radisson's  journal  alike 
prove  that  he  passed  to  France  from  England,  in  October,  1674. 
Whether  Groseillprs  came  to  England  on  the  ship  is  not  stated, 
therefore  the  question  is  left  open,  but  it  is  stated  that  Groseillers 

160 


''Gentlemen  Adventurers  of  England'' 


passed  to  France  at  the  same  time,  so  that  pretty  story  of 
Groseillers  knocking  Bayly's  head  is  all  fiction. 

I  was  not  able  to  find  that  "Booke  Aparte"  in  which  entries 
were  made  of  Mr.  Andrew  Vallentine's  matrimonial  mart.  It 
may  yet  turn  up  in  the  cellarful  of  old  papers  in  the  Company's 
warehouse.  Perhaps  it  is  as  well  that  it  should  not,  for  some 
of  the  most  honored  names  in  Canadian  history  came  into  the 
service  of  the  Company  at  this  time. 

Lyddell's  salary  as  governor  of  the  west  coast  of  the  bay 
was  to  be  £ioo  per.  annum.  Sailors  were  paid,  in  1671,  from 
£20  to  £30  a  year,  the  surgeons  £20  a  year. 


i6i 


CHAPTER  IX 

1674-1685 

IF  RADISSON  CAN  DO  WITHOUT  THE  ADVENTURERS, 
THE  ADVENTURERS  CANNOT  DO  WITHOUT  RAD- 
ISSON— THE  ERUPTION  OF  THE  FRENCH  ON  THE 
BAY — THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  RAIDERS 

WHILE  Radisson  became  once  more  a 
man  without  habitat  or  country,  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Adventurers  were  in  the 
very  springtime  of  wonderful  prosperity.  Despite 
French  interlopers  coming  overland  from  the  St. 
Lawrence,  the  ships  of  1679  brought  home  cargoes 
totaling  10,500  beaver,  1,100  marten,  200  otter,  700 
elk  and  a  vast  quantity  of  such  smaller  furs  as  musk- 
rat  and  ermine.  Cash  to  the  value  of  half  the  Com- 
pany's capital  lay  in  the  strong  box  as  a  working 
fund,  and  by  1681  dividends  to  the  value  of  just  twice 
the  Company's  stock  had  been  paid  to  the  share- 
holders. The  first  speculation  in  the  stock  began 
about  this  time,  the  shares  changing  hands  at  an 
advance  of  33  per  cent,  and  a  new  lot  of  shareholders 
coming  in,  among  whom  was  the  famous  architect — 
Christopher  Wrenn.     At  this  time,   too,  one,   Mr. 

162 


Radisson  and  the  Adventurers 


Phillips,  was  expelled  as  a  shareholder  for  attempt- 
ing to  conduct  a  private  trade  through  members  of 
the  crews.  Prince  Rupert  continued  to  be  governor 
till  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1682,  when  James,  Duke 
of  York,  was  chosen  to  succeed.  At  first,  the  govern- 
ing committee  had  met  only  before  the  ships  sailed 
and  after  they  returned.  Committee  meetings  were 
now  held  two  or  three  times  a  week,  a  payment  of 
6s  8d  being  made  to  each  man  for  attendance,  a  like 
amount  being  levied  as  a  fine  for  absence,  the  fines 
to  be  kept  in  a  Poor  Box  for  the  benefit  of  the  service. 

Bayly,  who  had  been  governor  on  the  south  coast 
of  Hudson's  Bay,  when  Radisson  left,  now  came 
home  in  health  broken  from  long  exposure,  to  die 
at  Mr.  Walker's  house  on  the  Strand,  whence  he  was 
buried  with  full  military  honors,  the  crew  of  The 
John  and  Alexander  and  the  Adventurers  marching 
by  "torch  light"  to  St.  Paul's  Churchyard. 

Hudson  Bay — let  it  be  repeated — can  be  com- 
pared in  size  only  to  the  Mediterranean.  One  gov- 
ernor could  no  more  command  all  the  territory  bor- 
dering it  than  one  ruler  could  govern  all  the  countries 
bordering  the  Mediterranean.  Nixon  was  com- 
missioned to  succeed  Bayly  as  governor  of  the  South 
Shore — namely  of  Rupert  and  Moose  Rivers,  terri- 
tory inland  about  the  si^e  of  modem  Germany,  which 
the  new  governor  was  supposed  to  keep  in  order 

163 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

with  a  force  of  sixteen  men  from  the  crew  of  The 
John  and  Alexander  and  garrison  of  eight  men  at 
each  of  the  two  forts — thirty-two  men  in  all,  serving 
at  salaries  ranging  from  $60  (;^i2)  to  $100  (;)^2o) 
a  year,  to  police  a  barbarous  pre-historic  Germany; 
and  the  marvel  is,  they  did  it.  Crime  was  almost 
unknown.  Mr.  Nixon's  princely  salary  as  governor, 
poohbah,  potentate,  was  £200  a  year,  and  it  is 
ordered,  May,  1680,  "that  a  cask  of  canary  be  sent 
out  as  a  present  to  Governor  Nixon." 

On  the  West  Coast,  it  will  be  remembered,  Lyd- 
dell  had  gone  out  as  governor.  That  vague  "West 
Coast" — though  the  Adventurers  did  not  know  it — 
meant  a  region  the  size  of  Russia.  Lyddell  was  now 
succeeded  by  Sargeant,  the  bluffest,  bravest,  halest, 
heartiest  of  governors  that  ever  donned  the  gold  lace 
and  pompous  insignia  of  the  Adventurers.  Sar- 
geant's  garrison  never  at  any  time  numbered  more 
than  forty  and  usually  did  not  exceed  twelve.  His 
fort  was  on  an  island  at  the  mouth  of  Albany  River, 
some  one  hundred  miles  north  of  Moose.  It  will 
be  recalled  that  Radisson  had  traveled  three  hun- 
dred miles  farther  up  the  west  coast  to  Port  Nelson. 
The  Company  now  decided  to  appoint  a  governor  for 
that  region,  too,  and  John  Bridgar  was  commissioned 
to  go  out  in  1682  with  Captain  Gillam  on  the  ship 
Prince  Rupert — a  bad  combination,  these  two,  whose 

164 


Radisson  and  the  Adventurers 


chief  qualification  seemed  to  be  swashbuckler  valor, 
fearlessness  of  the  sea,  ability  to  break  the  heads  of 
their  men  and  to  drown  all  remorse  pottle  deep  in 
liquor.  How  did  they  rule,  these  little  potentates 
of  the  wilds?  With  all  the  circumstance  and  pomp 
of  war,  couriers  running  beforehand  v/hen  they 
traveled,  drums  beating,  flags  flying,  muskets  and 
cannon  roaring  salutes,  a  bugler  tootling  to  the  fore  of 
a  governor  dressed  in  gaudiest  regimentals,  a  line 
of  white  servants  marching  behind,  though  they 
were  so  poor  they  wore  Indian  garb  and  had  in  their 
hearts  the  hatred  of  the  hireling  for  a  tyrant ;  for  over 
them  the  Company  had  power  of  life  and  death 
without  redress.  All  very  absurd,  it  seems,  at  this 
long  distant  time,  but  all  very  effective  with  the 
Indians,  who  mistook  noise  for  power  and  display 
for  greatness. 

By  royal  edict,  privateers  were  forbidden  to  go  to 
Hudson  Bay,  whether  from  England  or  New  Eng- 
land. Instead  of  two  small  ships  borrowed  from 
the  Admiralty,  the  Adventurers  now  had  four  of  their 
own  and  two  chartered  yearly— T/?e  Prudent  Mary, 
and  Alhermarle  frigate  and  Colleton  yacht  outward 
bound,  The  Prince  Rupert  and  John  and  Alexander 
and  Shajtsbury — which  was  wrecked  —  homeward 
bound,  or  vice  versa.  And  there  began  to  come  into 
Company's  records,  grand  old  names  of  grand  old 

165 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

mariners— Vikings  of  the  North— Mike  Grimming- 
ton,  who  began  before  the  mast  of  The  Albemarle  at 
thirty  shillings  a  month,  and  Knight,  of  whose  tragic 
fate  more  anon,  and  Walker,  who  came  to  blows 
with  Governor  Sargeant,  outward  bound.  Those 
were  not  soft  days  for  soft  men.  They  were  days  of 
the  primordial  when  the  best  man  slept  in  his  fight- 
ing gear  and  the  victory  went  to  the  strong. 

When  Captain  James  had  come  out  to  follow  up 
Hudson's  discoveries,  he  had  left  his  name  to  James 
Bay  and  discovered  Charlton  Island,  some  forty 
miles  from  the  South  Shore.  Now  that  the  Company 
had  so  many  ships  afloat,  Charlton  Island  became 
the  rendezvous.  The  ships,  that  were  to  winter  on 
the  bay,  went  to  their  posts,  but  to  Charlton  Island 
came  the  cargoes  for  those  homeward  bound. 

To  Port  Nelson,  then,  came  Governor  Bridgar 
on  The  Prince  Rupert  with  Captain  Gillam,  in 
August,  of  1682.  Mike  Grimmington  is  now  second 
mate.  Gillam  must  have  been  to  Port  Nelson  before 
on  trading  ventures,  but  Governor  Bridgar's  com- 
mission was  to  establish  that  fort  which  for  two  cen- 
turies was  to  be  the  battleground  of  Northern  traders 
and  may  yet  l^e  the  great  port  of  Northern  commerce. 
The  whole  region  was  called  Nelson  after  Admiral 
Button's  mate,  but  it  was  to  become  better  known 

166 


Radisson  and  the  Adventurers 


as  Fort  Bourbon,  when  possessed  by  the  French; 
as  York,  when  it  repassed  to  the  Enghsh. 

Shifting  shoals  of  sand-drift  barred  the  sea  from 
the  main  coast  for  ten  miles  north  and  south,  but 
across  the  shoals  were  gaps  visible  at  low  tide, 
through  which  the  current  broke  with  the  swiftness 
of  a  river.  Gillam  ordered  small  boats  out  to  sound 
and  stake  the  ship's  course  by  flags  erected  in  the 
sand  at  half  tide.  Between  these  flags.  The  Prince 
Rupert  slowly  moved  inland.  Inside  the  sand-bar, 
the  coast  was  seen  to  be  broken  by  the  mouths  of  two 
great  rivers — either  one  a  miniature  St.  Lawrence, 
on  the  north  the  Nelson,  on  the  south  the  Hayes.  It 
was  on  the  Hayes  to  the  south  that  the  Adventurers 
finally  built  their  fur  post,  but  Bridgar  and  Gillam 
now  pushed  The  Prince  Rupert's  carved  prow  slowly 
up  the  northern  river,  the  Nelson.  The  stream  was 
wide  with  a  tremendous  current  and  low,  swampy, 
wooded  banks.  Each  night  sails  were  reefed  and 
men  sent  ashore  to  seek  a  good  site  or  sign  of  Indians. 
Night  after  night  during  the  whole  month  of  Sep- 
tember, John  Calvert,  Robert  Braddon,  Richard 
Phineas,  Robert  Sally  and  Thomas  Candy  punted 
in  and  out  of  the  coves  along  the  Nelson,  lighting 
bonfires,  firing  muskets,  spying  the  shore  for  foot- 
step of  native.  On  the  ship,  Bridgar  ordered  the 
cannon  fired  as  signals  to  distant  Indians  and  for 

167 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  first  time  in  history  the  roar  of  heavy  guns  rolled 
across  the  swamps.  Winter  began  to  close  in  early. 
Ice  was  forming.  Nipping  frosts  had  painted  the 
swamp  woods  in  colors  of  fire.  One  afternoon 
toward  October  when  The  Prince  Rupert  was  some 
seventeen  miles  from  the  sand-bar,  gliding  noiselessly 
with  full-blown  sails  before  a  gentle  wind,  the  smoke 
of  an  Indian  signal  shot  skyward  from  the  south 
shore. 

In  vain  Bridgar  fired  muskets  all  that  afternoon 
and  waved  flags,  to  call  the  savages  to  the  ship.  A 
solitary  figure,  seeming  to  be  a  spy,  emerged  from 
the  brushwood,  gazing  stolidly  at  the  apparition  of 
the  ship.  Presently,  two  or  three  more  figures  were 
discovered  moving  through  the  swamp.  The  next 
morning  Governor  Bridgar  ordered  the  gig-boat 
lowered,  and  accompanied  by  Gillam  and  an  escort 
of  six  sailors — rowed  ashore.  First  impressions 
count  much  with  the  Indians.  On  such  occasion, 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  officers  never  failed  of 
pompous  ostentation — profusion  of  gold  lace,  cocked 
hats  for  officers,  colored  regimentals  for  underlings, 
a  bugler  to  the  fore,  or  a  Scotchman  blowing  his 
bagpipes,  with  a  show  of  burnished  firearms  and 
helmets. 

On  rowed  the  gig-boat  toward  the  imperturbable 
figure   on   the   shore.     Some   paces   out,   the   boat 

i68 


Radisson  and  the  Adventurers 


grated  bottom  and  stuck  in  the  sand.  A  sailor  had 
jumped  to  mid-waist  in  water  to  drag  the  craft  in, 
when  the  stoHd  figure  on  the  sand  suddenly  came  to 
life.  With  a  leap,  leveled  musket  covering  the  in- 
coming boat,  the  man  had  bounded  to  the  water's 
edge  and  in  purest  English  shouted — "Halt!" 

"We  are  Hudson's  Bay  Company  men,"  protested 
Bridgar  standing  up. 

"But  I,"  answered  the  figure,  "am  Radisson,  and 
I  hold  possession  of  all  this  region  for  France." 

If  the  Frenchman  had  been  Vesuvius  suddenly 
erupted  under  some  idling  tourists,  or  if  a  ghost 
arisen  from  the  ground,  the  Enghsh  could  not  have 
been  more  astonished.  They  had  thought  they 
had  finished  with  the  troublesome  Frenchman,  and 
behold  him,  here,  in  possession  with  a  musket 
leveled  at  their  heads  and  three  men  conmianding 
ambushed  forces  behind. 

With  a  show  of  hollow  courage,  Bridgar  asked 
permission  to  land  and  salute  the  commander  of  the 
French  forces.  One  can  guess  with  what  love,  they 
fell  on  each  other's  necks.  Radisson's  courage  rose 
recklessly  as  if  the  danger  had  been  so  much  wine. 
These  three  men  were  his  officers,  he  said.  His  fort 
was  some  distance  away.  He  had  two  ships  but 
expected  more.  How  m.any  men  had  he?  Ah, 
there  his  English  failed,  but   his   broken   French 

169 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


conveyed  the  impression  of  forces  that  could  wipe  the 
English  out  of  existence.  Gillam  and  Bridgar,  who 
could  not  speak  one  word  of  French,  looked  glum 
enough.  To  test  this  brave  show  of  valor,  they 
invited  him  on  l^oard  The  Prince  Rupert  to  dine. 
Radisson  accepted  with  an  alacrity  that  disarmed 
suspicion,  but  he  took  the  precaution  of  inviting  two 
English  sailors  to  remain  on  shore  with  his  French 
followers.  What  yarns  were  spun  over  the  mess 
room  table  of  The  Prince  Rupert  that  day!  Radis- 
son enquired  for  all  his  own  friends  of  London,  and 
Bridgar  in  turn  heard  what  Radisson  had  been  doing 
in  the  French  navy  all  these  eight  years.  Who 
knew  Port  Nelson  better  than  Radisson?  They 
asked  him  about  the  current  of  the  river.  He  ad- 
vised them  to  penetrate  no  farther  for  fear  of  a  clash 
with  the  French  forces  and  to  forbid  their  men 
marauding  inland  in  order  to  avoid  trouble  with 
the  Indians. 

Could  any  one  guess  that  the  astute  Frenchman, 
boasting  of  ships  and  so  recklessly  quafhng  toasts  at 
the  table  of  his  enemies — was  defenseless  and  power- 
less in  their  hands?  His  fort  was  not  on  this  river 
but  on  the  Hayes  across  the  swamp  to  the  south — a 
miserable  collection  of  log  shacks  with  turf  roofs, 
garrisoned  by  a  mere  handful  of  mutinous  sailors. 
His  fear  was  not  that  the  English  would  clash  with 

170 


o 

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r,     ^ 


U 


H 


o  ^ 


o 


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CJ 


Radisson  and  the  Adventurers 


the  French  forces,  but  that  they  would  learn  how 
weak  he  was.  And  another  discovery  added  the 
desperation  of  recklessness  to  the  game.  Radisson 
and  Groseillers  had  come  to  the  bay  but  a  month 
before  on  two  miserable  ships  with  twenty-seven 
men.  Musketry  firing  had  warned  Radisson  of 
some  one  else  at  Port  Nelson.  Twenty-six  miles  up 
Nelson  River  on  Gillam  Island,  he  had  discovered 
to  his  amazement,  poachers  who  were  old  acquaint- 
ances— Ben  Gillam,  son  of  the  Company's  captain, 
with  John  Outlaw,  come  in  The  Bachellors^  Delight 
from  Boston,  on  June  21,  to  poach  on  the  Com- 
pany's fur  preserve.  It  was  while  canoeing  down 
stream  from  the  discovery  of  the  poachers  that 
Radisson  ran  full-tilt  into  the  Company's  ship.  Here, 
then,  was  a  pretty  dilemma — two  English  ships  on 
the  same  river  not  twenty  miles  apart,  the  French 
south  across  the  swamp  not  a  week's  journey  away. 
Radisson  was  trapped,  if  they  had  but  known.  His 
only  chance  was  to  keep  The  Prince  Rupert  and 
The  Bachellors^  Delight  apart,  and  to  master  them 
singly. 

If  Bridgar  had  realized  Radisson's  plight,  the 
Frenchman  would  have  been  clapped  under  hatches 
in  a  twinkle,  but  he  was  allowed  to  leave  The  Prince 
Rupert.  Bridgar  beached  his  ships  on  the  fiats  and 
prepared  to  build  winter  quarters.    Ten  days  later, 

171 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Radisson  dropped  in  again,  "to  drink  health,"  as  he 
suavely  explained,  introducing  common  sailors  as 
officers  and  firing  off  muskets  to  each  cup  quaffed, 
to  learn  whether  the  Company  kept  soldiers  "on 
guard  in  case  of  a  surprise."  Governor  Bridgar 
was  too  far  gone  in  liquor  to  notice  the  trick,  but 
Captain  Gillam  rushed  up  the  decks  of  The  Prince 
Rupert  with  orders  for  the  French  to  begone.  Gillam 
and  Radisson  had  been  enemies  from  the  first. 
Gillam  was  suspicious.  Therefore,  it  behooved 
Radisson  to  play  deeper.  The  next  time  he  came 
to  the  ship  he  was  accompanied  by  the  Captain's 
son,  Ben,  the  poacher,  dressed  as  a  bushranger. 
There  was  reason  enough  now  for  the  old  captain 
to  keep  his  crew  from  going  farther  up  the  river. 
If  Ben  Gillam  were  discovered  in  illicit  trade,  it 
meant  ruin  to  both  father  and  son.  When  some  of 
his  crew  remarked  the  resemblance  of  the  supposed 
bushranger  to  the  absent  son,  Captain  Gillam  went 
cold  with  fright. 

Falsity,  intrigue,  danger,  were  in  the  very  air.  It 
lacked  but  the  spark  to  cause  the  explosion;  and 
chance  supplied  the  spark. 

Two  of  the  Company  men  ranging  for  game  came 
on  young  Gillam's  ship.  They  dashed  back  breath- 
less to  Governor  Bridgar  with  word  that  there  was  a 
strange  fort  only  a  few  miles  away.     Bridgar  thought 

172 


Radisson  and  the  Adventurers 


this  must  be  the  French  fort,  and  Captain  Gillam 
had  not  courage  to  undeceive  him.  Scouts  were  sent 
scurrying.  Those  scouts  never  returned.  They  had 
been  benighted  in  a  howHng  bhzzard  and  as  chance 
would  have  it,  were  rescued  by  Radisson's  spies. 
While  he  waited  for  their  return,  worse  disaster  befell 
Bridgar.  Storm  and  ice  set  the  tide  driving  in  Nel- 
son River  like  a  whirlpool.  The  Prince  Rupert  was 
jammed,  ripped,  crushed  like  an  eggshell  and  sunk 
with  loss  of  all  provisions  and  fourteen  men,  includ- 
ing old  Captain  Gillam.  Mike  Grimmington,  the 
mate,  escaped.  Governor  Bridgar  was  left  destitute 
and  naked  to  the  enemy  without  either  food  or  am- 
munition for  the  remainder  of  his  crew  to  face  the 
winter.  The  wretched  man  seems  to  have  saved 
nothing  from  the  wreck  but  the  liquor,  and  in  this  he 
at  once  proceeded  to  drown  despair.  It  was  Rad- 
isson who  came  to  his  rescue.  Nothing  more  was  to 
be  feared  from  Bridgar.  Therefore,  the  Frenchman 
sent  food  to  the  servants  of  his  former  friends.  With- 
out his  aid,  the  entire  Hudson's  Bay  crew  would  have 
perished. 

Cooped  up  in  the  deplorable  rabbit  hutches  that 
did  duty  as  barracks,  and  constantly  besotted  with 
liquor.  Governor  Bridgar  was  eking  out  a  miserable 
winter  when  he  was  electrified  by  another  piece  of 
chance  news.    A  thunderous  rapping  awakened  the 

173 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


cabin  one  winter  night.  When  the  door  was  opened, 
there  stumbled  in  a  disheveled,  panting  Scotchman 
with  an  incoherent  plea  for  help.  The  French  were 
attacking  Ben  Gillam's  fort.  For  the  first  time, 
Bridgar  learned  that  the  fort  up  stream  was  not 
French  but  English — the  fort  of  Ben  Gillam,  the 
poacher;  and  all  his  pot  valor  resolved  on  one  last, 
desperate  cast  of  the  dice.  To  be  sure,  the  other 
ship  was  a  poacher;  but  she  was  English.  If  Bridgar 
united  with  her,  he  might  beat  Radisson.  He  would 
at  least  have  a  ship  to  escape  to  the  Company's  forts  at 
the  lower  end  of  Hudson  Bay,  or  to  England.  Also, 
he  owed  his  own  and  his  crew's  life  to  Radisson ;  but  he 
owed  his  services  to  the  Company,  and  the  Company 
could  best  be  served  by  treachery  to  Radisson  and 
alliance  with  that  scalawag  sailor  adventurer — Ben 
Gillam,  whose  ship  sailed  under  as  many  names  as 
a  pirate  and  showed  flags  as  various  as  the  seasons. 
Better  men  than  Bridgar  forced  to  choose  between 
the  scalawag  with  the  dollar  and  honor  with  ruin, 
have  chosen  the  scalawag  with  the  dollar. 

Men  sent  out  as  scouts  came  back  with  unsatis- 
factory tales  of  having  failed  to  capture  Ben  Gillam's 
ship,  but  they  were  loaded  with  food  for  Bridgar 
from  Radisson.  Bridgar  only  waited  till  spies  re- 
ported that  Radisson  had  left  Gillam's  fort  to  cross 
the  marsh  to  French  headquarters.     Then  he  armed 

174 


Radisson  and  the  Adventurers 


his  men — cutlass,  bludgeon,  such  muskets  as  Rad- 
isson's  ammunition  rendered  available — and  set  out. 
It  was  a  forced  tramp  in  midwinter  through  bitter 
cold.  The  men  were  an  ill-clad  rabble.  They  were 
unused  to  this  cold  with  frost  that  glittered  sharp  as 
diamond-points,  and  had  not  yet  learned  snowshoc 
travel  over  the  rolling  drifts.  Frost-bitten,  plunging 
to  their  armpits  in  snow,  they  followed  the  iced  river 
bed  by  moonlight  and  sometime  before  dawn  pre- 
sented themselves  at  the  main  gate  of  Ben  Gillam's 
palisaded  fort.  Never  doubting  but  Gillam's  sentry 
stood  inside,  Bridgar  knocked.  The  gate  swung 
open  before  a  sleepy  guard.  In  rushed  Bridgar's 
men.  Bang  went  the  gates  shut.  In  the  confusion 
of  half-light  and  frost  smoke,  armed  men  surrounded 
the  English.  Bridgar  was  trapped  in  his  own  trap. 
Not  Gillam's  men  manned  the  poacher's  fort,  but 
Radisson's  French  sailors.  Ben  Gillam  and  his  crew 
had  long  since  been  captured  and  marched  across 
the  swamp  to  French  headquarters.  Bridgar  and  his 
crew  were  the  prisoners  of  the  French  in  the  poacher's 
fort. 

The  rest  of  the  winter  of  1682-83  belongs  to  the 
personal  history  of  Radisson  and  is  told  in  his  life. 
Between  despair  and  drink,  Bridgar  was  a  madman. 
Radisson  carried  him  to  the  French  fort  on  Hayes 
River,  whence  in  a  few  weeks  he  was  released  on 

175 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Great  Northwest 

parole  to  go  back  to  his  own  rabbit  hutch  of  a  bar- 
racks. When  spring  came,  between  poachers  and 
Company  men,  the  French  had  more  EngUsh  prisoners 
than  they  knew  what  to  do  with.  To  make  matters 
worse,  one  of  the  French  boats  had  been  wrecked 
in  the  ice  jam.  It  was  decided  to  send  some  of  the 
EngHsh  prisoners  on  the  remaining  boat  to  Moose 
and  Rupert  River  at  the  south  end  of  the  bay,  and 
to  carry  the  rest  on  the  poacher  Bachellors^  Delight  to 
Quebec.  Outlaw  and  some  of  the  other  poachers 
would  take  ho  chance  of  going  back  to  New  England 
to  be  arrested  as  pirates.  They  went  in  The  Ste. 
Anne  to  the  foot  of  James  Bay  and  joined  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Bridgar,  too,  was  to  have 
gone  to  his  company's  forts  on  James  Bay,  but  at  the 
last  moment  he  pretended  to  fear  the  ice  floes  on  such 
a  slender  craft  and  asked  to  go  with  Radisson  on 
The  Bachellors^  Delight  to  Quebec.  Giving  the 
twelve  refugees  on  The  Ste.  Anne  each  four  pounds 
of  beef,  two  bushels  of  oatmeal  and  flour,  Radisson 
dispatched  them  for  the  forts  of  James  Bay  on 
August  14th.  He  had  already  set  fire  to  Bridgar's 
cabins  on  Nelson  River  and  destroyed  the  poachers' 
fort  on  Gillam  Island,  Bridgar,  himself,  asking  per- 
mission to  set  the  flame  to  Ben  Gillam's  houses. 
Leaving  Groseillers'  son,  Chouart,  with  seven  French- 
men to  hold  possession  of  Port  Nelson,  Radisson  set 

176 


Radisson  and  the  Adventurers 


sail  with  his  prisoners  on  The  Bachcllors'  Delight. 
A  few  miles  out,  a  friendly  Englishman  warned  him 
of  conspiracy.  Bridgar  and  Ben  Gillam  were  plot- 
ting a  mutiny  to  cut  the  throats  of  all  the  Frenchmen 
and  return  to  put  the  garrison  at  Port  Nelson  to  the 
sword;  so  when  Bridgar  asked  for  the  gig-boat  to 
attempt  going  six  hundred  miles  to  the  forts  at  the 
south  end  of  the  bay,  Radisson's  answer  was  to  order 
him  under  lock  the  rest  of  the  voyage. 

At  Quebec,  profound  disappointment  awaited 
Radisson.  Frontenac  had  given  place  to  De  la 
Barre  as  governor  of  New  France,  and  De  la  Barre 
knew  that  a  secret  treaty  existed  between  France 
and  England.  He  would  lend  no  countenance 
to  Radisson's  raid.  The  Bachellors^  Delight  was 
restored  to  young  Gillam  and  Radisson  ordered  to 
France  to  report  all  he  had  done.  Young  Gillam 
was  promptly  arrested  in  Boston  for  poaching  on 
Hudson  Bay.  Within  a  few  years,  he  had  turned 
pirate  in  earnest,  or  been  driven  to  piracy  by  the 
monopolistic  laws  that  gave  every  region  for  trade 
to  some  special  favorite  of  the  English  crown.  About 
the  time  Captain  Kidd  of  pirate  fame  was  arrested 
at  Boston,  one  Gillam  of  The  Prudent  Sarah  was 
arrested,  too.  By  wrenching  off  his  handcuffs  and 
filing  out  the  bars  of  his  prison  window  with  the  iron 
of  the  handcuff,  Gillam  almost  escaped.    He  was 

177 


TJie  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

leaping  out  of  the  prison  window  on  old  Court  Street 
when  the  bayonet  of  a  guard  prodded  him  back.  With 
Captain  Kidd,  he  was  taken  to  England  and  tried 
for  crimes  on  the  high  seas.  There,  he  drops  from 
history. 

As  for  Bridgar,  he  no  sooner  whiffed  Governor 
De  la  Barre's  fear  of  consequences  for  what  Radisson 
had  done,  than  he  set  two  worlds  ringing  with  vaunt- 
ings  of  the  vengeance  England  would  take.  Put- 
ting through  drafts  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for 
money,  he  hired  interpreters,  secretaries,  outriders, 
and  assumed  pomp  that  would  have  done  credit  to 
a  king's  ambassador.  Sailing  to  New  England  with 
Ben  Gillam,  he  cut  a  similar  swath  from  Boston  to 
New  York,  riding  like  a  Jehu  along  the  old  post  road 
in  a  noisy  endeavor  to  rehabilitate  his  own  dignity. 
Then  he  sailed  for  England  where  condign  humilia- 
tion lay  in  wait.  The  Company  was  furious.  They 
refused  to  honor  his  drafts  and  would  not  pay  him 
one  penny's  salary  from  the  day  he  had  surrendered 
to  Radisson.  The  wages  of  the  captured  servants, 
the  Company  honored  in  full,  even  the  wages  of  the 
dead  in  the  wreck  of  The  Prince  Rupert.  Bridgar 
was  retained  in  the  service,  but  severely  reprimanded. 

Notes  on  Chapter  IX. — Practically  the  entire  contents  of 
this  chapter  are  taken  from  the  documents  in  Hudson's  Bay 
House,  London.  Details  of  the  Company's  affairs  are  from  the 
Minute  Books,  of  the  fracas  with  Radisson,  from  the  affidavits 

178 


Radisson  and  the  Adventurers 


of  John  Outlaw,  who  first  went  to  the  bay  as  a  poacher  with 
young  Gillam,  and  from  the  affidavits  of  Bridgar's  crew. 

It  has  always  been  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  Gillam  Sr. 
survived  the  wreck  of  The  Prince  Rupert.  The  question  is 
settled  by  the  fact  that  his  wages  are  "payable  to  an  attorney 
for  his  heirs."  If  he  had  lived,  it  was  ordered  that  he  was  to 
be  arrested  for  complicity  in  piracy  with  his  son. 

The  ultimate  fate  of  Ben  Gillam  I  found  in  the  Shaftesbury 
collection  of  papers  bearing  on  Captain  Kidd.  His  name  is 
variously  given  as  "William"  and  "James,"  but  I  think  there 
can  be  little  doubt  of  his  identity  from  several  coincidences. 
In  the  first  place,  the  Gillam  whom  Mr.  Randolph  arrested  for 
piracy  (and  was  given  a  present  by  the  Company  for  so  doing) 
was  the  Gillaum  later  arrested  in  connection  with  Captain  Kidd. 
Also  Gillam's  boat  was  known  under  a  variety  of  names — 
Bachellors'  Delight,  Prudent  Sarah,  and  the  master  of  The  Pru- 
dent Sarah  was  arrested  in  connection  with  Captain  Kidd.  The 
minutes  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  show  that  the  Boston 
owners  of  Gillam's  boat  sued  for  the  loss  of  this  trip  against  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  lost  their  suit.  This  was  the  first 
test  of  the  legality  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  monopoly,  and 
the  courts  upheld  it. 

Radisson's  life  as  given  in  Pathfinders  of  the  West  and  Her- 
alds of  Empire  affords  fuller  details  of  the  fray  from  the  French- 
man's point  of  view.  It  is  remarkable  how  slightly  his  record 
differs  from  the  account  as  contained  in  the  official  affidavits. 

As  to  the  distance  of  Charlton  Island  from  the  main  coast — 
it  puzzled  me  how  the  sailing  directions  for  the  ships  that  were 
to  rendezvous  there  gave  the  distance  of  the  island  from  the 
main  coast  as  anything  from  twenty  to  eighty  miles.  The 
explanation  is  the  point  on  the  south  coast  that  is  considered. 


179 


CHAPTER  X 

1683-1685 

THE  ADVENTURERS  FURIOUS  AT  RADISSON,  ITND  IT 
CHEAPER  TO  HAVE  HIM  AS  FRIEND  THAN  ENEMY 
AND  INVITE  HIM  BACK  —  THE  REAL  REASON 
WHY  RADISSON  RETURNED — THE  TREACHERY 
OF  STATECRAFT — YOUNG  CHOUART  OUTRAGED, 
NURSES  HIS  WRATH  AND  THERE  GAILY  COMES  ON 
THE    SCENE    MONSIEUR    PERE  —  SCOUT    AND    SPY 

THE  Hudson's  Bay  Adventurers  were  dazed 
by  the  sudden  eruption  of  Radisson  at 
Port  Nelson.  Their  traders  had  gone 
there  often  enough  to  have  learned  that  the  finest 
furs  came  from  the  farthest  North.  Here  was  a 
region  six  hundred  miles  distant  from  the  French 
bush-lopers,  who  came  overland  from  the  St.  Law- 
rence. Here  were  the  best  furs  and  the  most  numer- 
ous tribes  of  Indian  hunters.  Radisson  had  found 
Port  Nelson  for  them.  Now  he  had  snatched  the 
rich  prize  from  their  hands. 

Bad  news  travels  fast.  Those  refugees,  who  had 
been  shipped  by  the  French  to  the  Company's  posts 
at  the  south  of  the  bay,  reached  the  ships'  rendezvous 

180 


The  Adventurers  Furious  at  Radisson 

at  Charlton  Island  in  time  to  return  to  England  by 
the  home-bound  vessels  of  1683.  Before  Radisson 
had  arrived  in  France,  Outlaw  and  the  other  refugees 
had  come  to  London.  The  embassies  of  France  and 
England  rang  with  what  was  called  "the  Radisson 
outrage."  John  Outlaw,  quondam  captain  for  Ben 
Gillam,  the  poacher,  took  oath  in  London,  on  No- 
vember 23,  of  all  that  Radisson  had  done  to  injure 
the  English,  and  he  swore  that  Groseillers  had 
showed  a  commission  from  the  Government  of 
France  for  the  raid.  Calvert,  Braddon,  Phineas  and 
those  seamen,  who  had  gone  up  Nelson  River  with 
Bridgar — ^gave  similar  evidence,  and  when  Bridgar, 
himself,  came  by  way  of  New  England,  the  clamor 
rose  to  such  heights  it  threatened  to  upset  the 
friendly  treaty  between  England  and  France.  Lord 
Preston,  England's  envoy  to  Paris,  was  besieged 
with  memorials  against  Radisson  for  the  French 
Government. 

"I  am  confirmed  in  our  worst  fears  by  the  news 
I  have  lately  received,"  wrote  Sir  James  Hayes  of 
the  Company,  "Monsieur  Radisson,  who  was  at  the 
head  of  the  action  at  Port  Nelson  is  arrived  in  France 
the  8th  of  this  month  (December,  1683)  in  a  man- 
of-war  from  Canada  and  is  in  all  posthaste  for 
Paris  to  induce  the  ministry  to  undermine  us  on 
Hudson's  Bay.     Nothing  can  mend  at  this  time  but 

181 


Tlie  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

to  get  His  Majesty's  order  through  my  Lord  Preston 
instantly  to  cause  ye  French  King  to  have  exemplary 
justice  done  upon  ye  said  Radisson." 

At  the  same  time,  Hayes  was  urging  Preston  to 
bribe  Radisson;  in  fact,  to  do  anything  to  bring 
him  back  to  the  service  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany. 

Radisson  and  Groseillers  had  meanwhile  reached 
Paris  only  to  find  that  the  great  statesman,  Colbert — 
on  whose  protection  they  had  relied — was  dead.  Fur 
traders  of  Quebec  had  the  ear  of  the  court — those 
monopolists,  who  had  time  and  again  robbed  them 
of  their  furs  under  pretense  of  collections  for  the 
revenue.  Both  Radisson  and  Groseillers  separately 
petitioned  the  court  for  justice.  If  De  la  Barre  had 
been  right  in  restoring  the  pirate  vessel  to  Ben  Gillam, 
what  right  had  he  to  seize  their  furs?  One  fourth 
for  revenue  did  not  mean  wholesale  confiscation. 
The  French  Court  retorted  that  Radisson  and  Gros- 
eillers had  gone  North  without  any  official  commis- 
sion. "True,"  answered  Groseillers  in  his  petition, 
"no  more  official  than  a  secret  verbal  commission 
such  as  Albanel  the  Jesuit  had,  when  he  came  to  us 
years  ago,  and  that  is  no  good  reason  why  we  should 
be  condemned  for  extending  French  dominion  and 
changing  Nelson's  name  to  Bourbon."     Radisson's 

182 


The  Adventurers  Furious  at  Radisson 

petition  openly  stated  that  while  they  carried  no 
"official  commission,"  they  had  gone  North  by  the 
express  order  of  the  King,  and  that  the  voyage, 
itself,  was  sufficient  proof  of  their  zeal  for  France. 

King  Louis  was  in  a  quandary.  He  dare  not  offend 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  for  its  chief  share- 
holders were  of  the  English  court,  and  with  the 
English  Court,  Louis  XIV  had  a  secret  treaty.  To 
De  la  Barre  he  sent  a  furious  reprimand  for  having 
released  Gillam's  pirate  vessel.  "It  is  impossible  to 
imagine  what  your  conduct  meant,"  ran  the  reproof, 
"or  what  you  were  about  when  you  gave  up  the 
vessel  captured  by  Radisson  and  Groseillers,  which 
will  afford  the  English  proof  of  possession  at  Port 
Nelson.  I  am  unwilling  to  afford  the  King  of  England 
cause  of  complaint,"  he  explained,  "but  I  think  it 
important  to  prevent  the  English  establishing  them- 
selves on  Nelson  River."  In  brief,  according  to  the 
shifty  trickery  of  a  royal  code,  Radisson  was  to  be 
reprimanded  publicly  but  encouraged  privately. 
Groseillers  dropped  out  of  the  contest  disgusted. 
The  French  court  sent  for  Radisson.  He  was  ordered 
to  prepare  to  sail  again  to  the  bay  on  April  24, 
1684,  but  this  time,  Radisson  would  have  no  under- 
hand commission  which  fickle  statesmen  might 
repudiate.  He  demanded  restoration  of  his  con- 
fiscated furs  and  a  written  agreement  that  he  should 

183 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

have  equal  share  in  trading  profits.  The  Depart- 
ment of  the  Marine  haggled.  Preparations  went 
on  apace,  but  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  not 
idle.  Sir  James  Hayes  and  Sir  William  Young  and 
my  Lord  Preston — English  envoy  to  Paris — urged 
Radisson  to  come  back  to  England  on  one  hand,  and 
on  the  other  threatened  rupture  of  the  treaty  with 
France  if  ''condign  punishment"  were  not  visited  on 
the  same  men. 

It  is  here  what  historians  have  called  "Radisson's 
crowning  treachery"  takes  place.  "Prince  of  liars, 
traitors,  adventurers  and  bushrangers" — says  one 
writer.  "He  received  the  marked  displeasure  of  M. 
Colbert,"  explains  another,  though  Colbert  was 
dead.  "He  was  blamable  for  deserting  the  flag  of 
France:  the  first  time  we  might  pardon  him,  for  he 
was  the  victim  of  grave  injustice,  but  no  excuse  could 
justify  his  second  desertion.  He  had  none  to  offer. 
It  was  an  ineffaceable  stain,"  asserts  yet  another 
critic. 

In  a  word,  Radisson  suddenly  left  France  secretly 
and  appeared  in  England,  the  servant  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company.  Why  did  he  do  it?  Especially, 
why  did  he  do  it  without  any  business  agreement 
with  the  Company  as  to  what  his  rewards  were  to 
be?  Traitors  sell  themselves  for  a  quid  pro  quo,  but 
there  was  no  prospect  of  gain  in  Radisson's  case. 

184 


The  Adventurers  Furious  at  Radisson 

His  own  journals  give  no  explanation.  I  confess  I 
had  always  thought  it  was  but  another  example  of 
the  hair-brained  enthusiast  mad  to  be  back  in  his 
native  element — the  wilds — and  shutting  his  eyes  to 
all  precautions  for  the  future.  It  was  not  till  I  had 
examined  the  state  papers  that  passed  between  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  France  that  I  found 
the  true  explanation  of  Radisson's  erratic  conduct. 
He  was  sent  for  by  the  Department  of  the  Marine, 
and  told  that  the  French  had  quit  all  open  preten- 
tions to  the  bay.  He  was  commanded  to  cross  to 
England  at  once  and  restore  Port  Nelson  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

"Openly?"  he  might  have  asked. 

Ah,  that  was  different!  Not  openly,  for  an  open 
surrender  of  Port  Nelson  would  forever  dispose  of 
French  claims  to  the  bay.  All  Louis  XIV  now 
wanted  was  to  pacify  the  English  court  and  main- 
tain that  secret  treaty.  No,  not  openly;  but  he  was 
commanded  to  go  to  England  and  restore  Port  Nel- 
son as  if  it  were  of  his  own  free  will.  He  had  cap- 
tured it  without  a  commission.  Let  him  restore  it 
in  the  same  way.  But  Radisson  had  had  enough  of 
being  a  scapegoat  for  state  statecraft  and  double 
dealing.  He  demanded  written  authority  for  what 
he  was  to  do,  and  the  Department  of  Marine  placed 
this  commission  in  his  hands: 

185 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

"In  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  Differences  wh.  exist 
between  the  two  Nations  of  the  French  &  Engh'sh  touch- 
ing the  Factory  or  Settlement  made  by  Messrs.  Groseillers 
and  Radisson  on  Hudson  Bay,  and  to  avoid  the  efusion 
of  blood  that  may  happen  between  the  sd.  two  nations, 
for  the  Preservation  of  that  place,  the  expedient  wch. 
appeared  most  reasonable  and  advantageous  for  the 
English  company  will,  that  the  sd.  Messrs.  De  Groseillers 
and  Radisson  return  to  the  sd.  Factory  or  habitation  fur- 
nished with  the  passport  of  the  EngHsh  Company,  import- 
ing that  they  shall  withdraw  the  French  wh.  are  in 
garrison  there  with  all  the  effects  belonging  to  them  in 
the  space  of  eighteen  months  to  be  accounted  from  the 
day  of  their  departure  by  reason  they  cannot  goe  and 
come  from  the  place  in  one  year.  .  .  .  The  said 
gentlemen  shall  restore  to  the  English  Company  the 
Factory  or  Habitation  by  them  settled  in  the  sd.  country 
to  be  thenceforward  enjoyed  by  the  English  company 
without  molestation.  As  to  the  indemnity  pretended  by 
the  English  for  effects  seized  and  brought  to  Quebec 
.  .  .  that  may  be  accomodated  in  bringing  back  the 
said  inventory  &  restoring  the  same  effects  or  their  value 
to  the  English  Proprietors." 

This,  then,  was  the  reason  for  Radisson  a  second 
time  deserting  the  French  flag.  He  was  compelled 
by  "the  statecraft"  of  Louis  XIV,  and  this  reason, 
as  a  man  of  honor,  he  could  not  reveal  in  his 
journals. 

On  the  loth  of  May,  1684,  Radisson  landed  in 
London.  He  was  welcomed  by  Sir  James  Hayes 
and  forthwith  carried  in  honor  to  Windsor,  where 

186 


The  Adventurers  Furious  at  Radisson 

he  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  as  a  British  subject — a 
fealty  from  which  he  never  swerved  to  the  end  of  his 
life.  In  a  week,  he  was  ready  to  leave.  Three 
ships  sailed  this  year,  The  Happy  Return,  under 
Captain  Bond ;  The  Success,  under  Outlaw,  who  had 
been  with  Ben  Gillam,  and  a  little  sloop  called  The 
Adventure  for  inland  waters,  under  Captain  Geyer. 
Radisson  went  on  board  The  Happy  Return.  Gros- 
eillers  had  long  since  left  France  for  Quebec,  where 
he  settled  at  Three  Rivers  with  his  family.  Favor- 
able winds  carried  the  ships  forward  without  storm  or 
stop,  to  the  straits,  which  luckily  presented  open 
water.  Inside  the  bay,  ice  and  heavy  seas  separated 
the  vessels.  Sixty  miles  from  Port  Nelson  The 
Happy  Return  was  caught  and  held.  Fearing  that 
the  French  at  Nelson,  under  young  Chouart  Gros- 
eillers,  might  attack  the  English  if  the  other  ships 
arrived  first,  Radisson  asked  permission  of  Governor 
Phipps,  who  had  superseded  Bridgar,  to  take  seven  of 
the  crew  and  row  the  sixty  miles  ashore.  It  was  a 
daring  venture.  Ice  floes  were  tossing  in  a  heavy 
sea,  but  by  rowing  might  and  main,  portaging  over 
the  ice  where  the  way  was  blocked,  and  seeking 
shelter  on  the  lee  side  of  a  floe  when  the  wind  became 
too  rough,  Radisson  and  his  men  came  safely  to  Port 
Nelson  in  forty-eight  hours,  spending  only  one  night 
in  the  gig-boat  on  the  sea.     Radisson  was  amazed 

187 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

to  find  the  French  fort  on  Hayes  River  deserted. 
Indians  presently  told  him  the  reason.  Barely  had 
he  left  the  bay  the  year  before  when  the  annual 
frigate  of  the  English  company  came  to  port.  Young 
Chouart  Groseillers  trusted  to  the  loyalty  of  the  In- 
dians as  a  defense  against  the  English  till  he  learned 
that  the  savages  had  been  offered  a  barrel  of  gun- 
powder to  massacre  the  French.  Then  Chouart 
hastily  withdrew  up  Playes  River  above  the  first 
rapids  to  the  camping  place  of  the  Assiniboines, 
whose  four  hundred  warriors  were  ample  protection. 
Young  Groseillers'  anger  at  the  turn  of  affairs 
knew  no  bounds.  In  his  fort  were  twelve  thousand 
beaver  skins  and  eight  thousand  other  pelts  of  the 
same  value  as  beaver.  To  the  expedition  the  year 
before,  he  had  contributed  ;^5oo  of  his  own  money, 
and  the  cargo  of  that  voyage  had  been  confiscated  at 
Quebec.  Now,  he  had  rich  store  of  pelts  to  com- 
pensate for  the  two  years'  toil,  and  by  the  order  of 
the  French  Government — a  secret  back-stairs,  treach- 
erous order  which  could  not  stand  daylight  and 
would  brand  him  as  a  renegade — he  was  to  turn  these 
furs  over  to  the  enemy.  The  young  man  was  furious, 
and  surrendered  his  charge  with  an  ill  grace.  Rad- 
isson  had  been  commissioned  to  offer  the  Frenchmen 
employment  in  the  English  Company  at  ;^ioo  a  year 
for  Chouart,  £50  for  Durvall,  Lamottc,  Greymaire 


The  Adventurers  Furious  at  liadisson 

and  the  rest.  They  heard  his  offer  in  sullen  silence, 
for  it  meant  they  must  forswear  allegiance  to  France. 
They  preferred  to  remain  free-lances  and  take  chances 
of  crossing  overland  to  Quebec  two  thousand  miles 
through  the  wilderness. 

Then  came  what  was  truly  the  crowning  treachery. 
A  square  deal  is  safest  in  the  long  run.  The  man  of 
double  dealing  forgets  that  he  often  compels  men, 
who  would  otherwise  deal  squarely,  to  meet  him 
on  his  own  ground — double  dealing;  to  stoop  to  the 
trickery  that  his  dishonesty  has  taught. 

Radisson  had  been  assured  that  the  Frenchmen 
left  in  Hudson  Bay  should  be  free  to  do  as  they 
wished,  or  if  they  joined  the  English  they  should  be 
well  treated ;  but  when  they  evinced  no  haste  to  be- 
come English  subjects,  Governor  Phipps  took  his 
own  counsel.  By  September,  a  new  fort  had  been 
built  on  Hayes  River  five  miles  from  the  mouth. 
The  Indians  had  come  down  stream  with  an  enor- 
mous trade  and  Radisson  had  made  a  treaty  of  peace 
between  them  and  the  English,  which  has  lasted  to 
this  day.  Finally,  the  cargo  of  beaver  was  on  board 
The  Happy  Return.  Sailors  were  chanting  their 
singsong  as  they  ran  round  the  capstan  bars  heaving 
up  anchor  on  September  the  ^th,  when  Governor 
Phipps  suddenly  summoned  a  final  council  on  board 
the  decks  of  The  Happy  Return.    To  this  council 

189 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

came  the  unsuspecting  Frenchmen  from  the  shore. 
Three — as  it  happened — had  gone  to  the  woods,  but 
young  Groseillers  and  the  rest  clambered  up  the 
accommodation  ladder  for  last  orders.  No  sooner 
were  they  on  board,  than  sails  were  run  out.  The 
Happy  Return  spread  her  wings  to  the  wind  and  was 
off  for  England  carrying  the  unwilling  Frenchmen 
passengers. 

In  a  trice,  hands  were  on  pistols  and  swords  out, 
but  Radisson  besought  the  outraged  Frenchmen  to 
restrain  their  anger.  What  was  their  strength 
against  an  armed  crew  of  ruffians  only  too  glad  of 
a  scuffle  to  put  them  all  to  the  sword?  It  was  a 
sullen,  sad  home-coming  for  the  adventurer.  Uncle 
and  nephew  were  scarcely  on  speaking  terms,  and 
the  trick  of  Governor  Phipps  must  have  opened 
Radisson's  eyes  to  the  treatment  he  might  expect 
now  that  he  was  completely  in  the  power  of  the 
English.  The  boat  reached  Portsmouth  on  Octo- 
ber 23.  Not  waiting  for  coach,  Radisson  took  horse 
and  rode  fast  and  furious  to  London.  He  was  at 
once  taken  before  the  Company.  He  was  publicly 
thanked  for  his  services,  presented  with  a  set  of 
silver  and  given  a  present  of  a  hundred  guineas. 
He  became  the  lion  of  the  hour.  Nor  did  he  forget 
his  French  confreres.  The  committee  at  once  voted 
each  of  the  Frenchmen  twenty  shillings  a  week  for 

190 


The  Adventurers  Furious  at  Radisson 

pocket  money  and  ordered  their  board  paid.  Later, 
Mr.  Radisson  is  authorized  to  offer  them  salaries 
ranging  from  ;^ioo  a  year  to  ;^5o  if  they  will  join 
the  Company.  But  they  are  in  no  haste  to  join  the 
Company,  and  strangely,  when  they  evince  intentions 
of  going  across  to  France — a  thousand  obstructions 
arise  as  out  of  the  ground.  They  are  watched — even 
threatened;  politely,  of  course,  but  threatened  with 
arrest.  Some  suave-tongued  gentleman  points  out  an 
advantageous  marriage  that  young  Chouart  might 
make  with  some  well-dowered  English  belle,  like 
his  Uncle  Radisson,  who  had  married  Mary  Kirke. 
Monsieur  Chouart  shrugs  his  shoulders.  He  hasn't 
a  very  high  opinion  of  the  way  Radisson  has  man- 
aged his  marriage  affairs. 

But  when  they  find  that  they  can  gain  their  liberty 
in  no  other  way,  these  young  French  knights  of  the 
wilderness,  they  accept  service  in  the  English  com- 
pany to  be  sent  to  the  bay  forthwith,  and  take  out 
"papers  of  denizen ation,"  which  can  be  broken  with 
less  damage  to  conscience  than  an  oath  of  fealty  and 
the  forswearing  of  France.  And  all  the  while,  they 
are  burning  with  rage  that  bodes  ill  for  Governor 
Phipps'  trick  on  the  deck  of  The  Happy  Return. 
Letters  came  from  France  to  Chouart,  letters  from  one 
Duluth,  who  is  pushing  north  from  Lake  Superior; 
letters  from  one  Comporte,  who  has  offered  to  go 

191 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

overland  and  ''wipe  the  English  from  the  bay"; 
messages  from  a  bush-loper,  one  Pere,  who  is  useful 
to  the  king  of  France  as  a  spy.  To  Comporte, 
Chouart  writes:  "I  am  not  at  liberty  to  do  as  I  wish. 
All  the  advantages  offered  do  not  for  a  moment  cause 
me  to  waver.  I  shall  be  happy  to  meet  you  by  the 
route  you  travel.  I  will  perish  or  be  at  the  place  you 
desire  me  to  go.  It  is  saying  enough.  I  will  keep 
my  word.^^  To  his  mother  at  Three  Rivers,  the 
young  Frenchman  confesses:  "Orders  have  been 
given  to  arrest  me  if  I  try  to  leave.  I  will  cause  it  to 
be  known  in  France  that  I  never  wished  to  follow  the 
English.  I  will  abandon  this  nation.  I  have  been 
forced  here  by  my  UncWs  subterfuges.  See  M. 
Duluth  in  my  behalf  and  M.  Pere  and  all  our  good 
friends.''^  "All  our  good  friends,"  are  the  bush- 
rangers who  are  working  overland  north  from  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  intercept  the  trade  of  Hudson  Bay — 
especially  ''Mons.  Pere." 

And  the  same  French  Government  that  has  com- 
pelled Radisson  to  go  back  to  England,  issues  orders 
to  the  Governor  of  New  France — M.  de  Denonville, 
"to  arrest  Radisson  wherever  he  may  be  found," 
"to  reward  young  Groscillers  if  he  will  desert  from 
Hudson's  Bay,"  and  "to  pay  fifty  pistolles"  to  any 
man  who  seizes  Radisson.  And  the  reason  for  this 
duplicity  of  statecraft?    Plain  enough.    The  Stuart 

192 


The  Adventurers  Furious  at  Radisson 

throne  is  tottering  in  England.  When  it  falls,  there 
falls  also  the  secret  treaty  with  France.  His  Most 
Christian  Majesty  does  not  wish  to  relinquish  claim 
to  one  foot  of  ground  in  the  North,  and  well  might  he 
not — it  was  an  empire  as  large  as  half  Europe. 

Meantime,  the  Company  was  proceeding  on  the 
even  tenor  of  its  ways.  Dividends  of  50  per  cent, 
were  paid  in  '83,  the  same  in  '84,  despite  intercep- 
tion of  furs  by  the  French  overlanders.  In  the  suit 
for  loss  by  the  owners  of  Ben  Gillam's  ship,  the 
Company  had  emerged  triumphant — its  monopoly 
vindicated,  and  in  1684,  Captain  Walker  of  the 
south  coast  coming  out  of  the  bay  on  The  Diligence, 
captured  another  pirate  ship,  The  Expectation,  whose 
owners  again  tested  the  Company's  claim  to  exclusive 
trade  on  the  bay,  by  a  lawsuit ;  and  again  the  Com- 
pany came  out  a  victor — its  monopoly  justified  by 
the  courts.  Three  of  the  ships — Happy  Return, 
Captain  Bond;  Owners''  Good  Will,  Captain  Lucas, 
and  Success,  Captain  Outlaw — were  yearly  chartered 
from  Sir  Stephen  Evance,  a  rich  goldsmith,  who 
had  become  a  heavy  shareholder  in  the  Company. 
Besides  these,  there  were  The  Perpetiiana  Merchant, 
Captain  Hume,  with  Smithsend  as  mate ;  The  Dili- 
gence, Captain  Walker;  the  sloop  Adventure,  Captain 
Geyer.  and  one  frigate ;  in  all  a  fleet  of  seven  vessels, 

193 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


each  carrying  from  twelve  to  twenty  men  plying  to 
and  from  the  bay.  It  was  in  1686  that  the  sloop 
was  sent  north  of  Nelson  to  Churchill  River,  named 
after  the  great  General — to  open  trade  on  the  river 
where  Munck's  Danes  had  suffered  such  frightful 
disaster.  About  this  time,  too,  poor  London  boys 
began  to  go  out  as  apprentices — scullions,  valets, 
general  knockabouts — among  whom  was  one  Henry 
Kelsey  engaged  at  £S  a  year,  and  his  keep  for  Port 
Nelson.  When  James,  Duke  of  York,  became  king, 
the  position  of  governor  of  the  Company  was  vacated, 
and  Sir  James  Hayes,  who  seems  always  to  have 
been  the  Company's  emissary  in  all  court  matters,  is 
directed  by  the  governing  committee  "to  bespeak 
the  Lord  John  Churchill  to  dynner  at  ye  Rumnior 
Tavernne  in  Queen'' s  StreeV^  on  business  for  the 
company's  very  great  interests.  What  that  business 
was  became  evident  at  the  General  Court  of  the 
Adventurers  called  on  April  2,  1685,  when  my 
Lord  Churchill  is  elected  governor  by  unanimous 
ballot.  Phipps  remains  at  Nelson  as  local  governor, 
Sargeant  at  Albany,  Nixon  at  Moose.  Bridgar  has 
been  transferred  to  Rupert  River,  not  important 
now,  because  the  French  are  luring  the  Indians 
away,  and  Radisson  is  general  superintendent  of 
all  trade,  spending  the  winters  in  London  to  arrange 
the  furs  for  sale  and  to  choose  the  outgoing  cargoes, 

194 


The  Adventurers  Furious  at  Radisson 


going  each  summer  to  the  bay  to  barter  with  the 
Indians. 

Notes  on  Chapter  X. — With  the  exception  of  the  two  petitions 
filed  by  Radisson  and  Groseillers  in  France,  and  of  young 
Groseillers'  letters — all  the  contents  of  this  chapter  are  drawn 
from  the  official  records  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  House.  Young 
Groseillers,  by  the  way,  is  usually  called  Jean  Baptiste,  but  as 
he  signs  himself  Chouart  I  have  referred  to  him  by  that  name. 

The  real  reason  why  Radisson  came  back  to  England  is  so 
new  to  history  that  I  have  given  the  instructions  of  the  French 
Government  in  full.  Radisson  refers  to  these  instructions  in 
his  affidavit  of  1697,  a  document — which  for  State  reasons — has 
never  been  given  to  the  public  till  now.  The  State  reasons  will 
become  plainer  as  the  record  goes  on.  Both  governments  were 
lying  to  sustain  fictitious  claims  for  damages.  Herewith  in  part, 
is  Radisson's  affidavit,  taken  before  Sir  Robert  Jeffery,  Aug. 
23,  1697,  left  with  the  English  commissioners  of  claims  against 
France  the  5th  of  June,  1699: 

"Peter  Esprit  Radisson  of  the  Parish  of  St.  James  in  the 
County  of  Middlesex  Esqr.  aged  sixty-one  years  or  thereabouts 
maketh  oath  that  he  came  into  England  in  the  year  1665  And 
in  the  year  1672  married  one  of  the  Daughters  of  Sir  John 
Kirke  And  in  the  year  1667  this  deponent  with  his  Brother  in 
law  Medard  Chouart  De  Groseilier  were  designed  for  a  voyage 
in  the  service  of  the  English  to  Hudson  Bay,  which  they  under- 
took, this  deponent  going  on  board  the  ship  Eagle  then  com- 
manded by  one  Captain  Wm.  Stanard  was  hindered  being  dis- 
abled at  sea  by  bad  weather,  soe  could  not  compleate  the  sd. 
intended  Voyage,  But  the  sd.  Grosilier  proceeded  in  another 
English  ship  called  the  Nonsuch  and  arrived  in  the  Bottom  of 
Hudson's  Bay  on  a  certaine  River  then  which  Capt.  Zachary 
Gillam  commander  of  the  sd.  ship  .  .  .  then  named  Rupert 
River  in  Honor  of  His  Highness  Prince  Rupert  who  was  chiefly 
interested  in  that  expedition.  .  .  .  And  this  deponent 
alsoe  saith  that  in  the  year  1668  He  went  from  England  .  . 
to  another  voyage  to  Fort  Nelson  on  an  English  ship  called  the 
Wavero  but  was  also  obstructed  .  .  .  and  at  his  returne 
found  the  sd.  Grossilier  safely  arrived  .  ,  .  and  in  the 
year  1669  this  deponent  went  on  the  sd.  ship  the  Wavero  com-' 
manded  by  Captain  Newland  &  arrived  at  Port  Nelson  .  .  . 
and  in  the  year  1670  the  sd.  Grosilier  was  sent  in  an  English 
Barke  to  Port  Nelson  .  .  .  and  in  the  year  1673  there 
arising  some  difference  between  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
of  England  &  this  deponent,  this  deponent  went  unto  France 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


and  in  the  year  1682  there  were  two  Barkes  fitted  out 
at  Canada  .  .  .  sailed  to  Hudson's  Bay  and  arrived  on 
Hayes  River  .  .  .  and  took  Port  Nelson  and  an  English 
vessel  which  came  from  New  England  commanded  by  one  Benj; 
Gillam  .  .  .  and  gave  the  name  of  Bourbon  to  the  said 
Port  Nelson  .  .  .  and  in  the  year  1683  he  came  from 
Canada  to  Paris  by  order  of  Monsr.  Colbert,  who  soone  after 
dyed.  And  this  deponent  being  at  Paris  was  there  informed 
that  the  Lord  Preston,  Ambassador  of  the  King  of  England  had 
given  in  a  Memoriall  .  .  .  against  this  Deponent  And 
after  this  deponent  had  been  several  times  with  the  Marquis  de 
Seignlay  &  Monsr.  Calliere  (one  of  the  Plenipotentiaries  at  the 
Treaty  of  Peace)  this  Deponent  found  that  the  French  had 
quitted  all  pretences  to  Hudson  Bay,  And  thereupon  in  the 
year  1684  in  the  month  of  Aprill,  this  deponent  by  the  special 
direction  of  the  sd.  Monsr.  Calliere  did  write  the  papers  here- 
unto annexed  ...  "  (there  follow  the  instructions  to 
return  to  England  as  given  in  the  text)  .  .  .  "which  the 
sd.  Monsr.  Calliere  dictated  .  .  .  and  the  sd.  Monsr.  Calliere 
acted  in  the  sd.  affaire  by  the  directions  of  the  Superintendent 
of  Marine  affairs  in  France.  .  .  .  And  the  deponent  was 
commanded  by  the  sd.  Monsr.  Calliere  ...  to  goe  to  Port 
Nelson  to  withdraw  the  French  from  thence.  And  to  restore 
the  same  to  the  English  who — he  sd. — should  be  satisfied  for 
the  wrong  &  damages  done  them  by  this  deponent  .  .  .  and 
this  deponent  went  in  one  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  ships 
to  Port  Nelson  and  withdrew  the  French  that  were  there  from 
that  Place,  and  the  sd.  Place  was  then  put  into  possession  of 
the  English  .  .  .  and  the  French  that  withdrew  were 
brought  unto  England     .... 

(Signed)  Pierre  Esprit  Radisson  London." 
August  1697. 

Those  who  wish  a  more  detailed  account  of  Radisson  will 
find  it  in  Pathfinders  of  the  West.  Chouart's  letter  will  be  found 
in  the  appendix  of  the  same  volume.  Documents  Relatifs  a  la 
Nouvelle  France,''  Tome  I  (1492-1712),  contains  the  petitions 
filed  by  Radisson  and  Groseillers  in  France. 

It  has  been  almost  a  stock  criticism  of  the  shallow  now- 
adays to  say  that  an  author  has  rejected  original  authorities, 
if  the  author  refers  to  printed  records,  or  to  charge  that  the 
author  has  ignored  secondary  authorities,  if  the  writer  refers 
only  to  original  documents.  I  may  say  that  I  have  not  de- 
pended on  secondary  authorities  in  the  case  of  Radisson,  because 
to  refer  to  them  would  be  to  point  out  inaccuracies  in  every 
second  line — an  ungrateful  task.     But   I   have  consulted  and 


196 


The  Adventurers  Furious  at  Radisson 


possess  in  my  own  library  every  book  that  has  ever  been  printed 
on  the  early  history  of  the  Northwest.  As  for  original  docu- 
ments, I  spent  six  months  in  London  on  records  whose  dust  had 
not  been  disturbed  since  they  were  written  in  the  sixteen- 
hundreds.  The  herculean  nature  of  this  laborious  task  can  best 
be  understood  when  it  is  realized  that  these  records  are  not 
open  to  the  public  and  it  is  impossible  to  have  an  assistant 
do  the  copying.  The  transcripts  had  to  be  done  by  myself, 
and  revised  by  an  assistant  at  night. 


197 


CHAPTER  XI 
1685-1686 

WHEREIN  THE  REASONS  FOR  YOUNG  CHOUART  GROS- 
EHLERS'  MYSTERIOUS  MESSAGE  TO  OUR  GOOD 
FRIEND  "PERE"  ARE  EXPLAINED — THE  FOREST 
ROVERS  OF  NEW  FRANCE  RAID  THE  BAY  BY  SEA 
AND  LAND — TWO  SHIPS  SUNK — PERE,  THE  SPY, 
SEIZED  AND  SENT  TO  ENGLAND 

IT  IS  now  necessary  to  follow  the  fleet  of  seven 
ships — four  large  frigates,  three  sloops  for 
inland  waters — to  the  bay.  Radisson  goes  as 
general  superintendent  with  Captain  Bond  and  Cap- 
tain Lucas  to  Nelson — the  port  farthest  north.  In 
these  ships,  too,  go  young  Chouart  Groseillers  and 
his  French  companions,  bound  for  four  years  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  albeit  they  have  received 
and  sent  mysterious  messages  to  and  from  "our 
good  friend,  Monsieur  Jan  Pere,"  of  Quebec,  swear- 
ing they  will  meet  him  at  some  secret  rendezvous 
or  "perish  in  the  attempt."  What  Chouart  Gros- 
eillers and  his  friends — sworn  to  serve  the  English 
company — mean  by  secret  oaths  to  meet  French 
bush-rovers    from    Quebec — remains    to   be   seen. 

198 


Reasons  for  Groseiller's  Message  Explained 

Young  Mike  Grimmington  is  second  mate  on  Captain 
Outlaw's  ship,  The  Success,  destined  for  the  fort 
south  of  Nelson — Albany,  where  bluff  old  Governor 
Sargeant  holds  sway  from  his  bastioned  stronghold 
on  the  island  at  the  mouth  of  Albany  River.  Brid- 
gar — quondam  governor  at  Nelson — now  goes  with 
the  sm.all  sloops  bound  for  the  bottom  of  the  bay — 
— Moose  and  Charlton  Island  and  Rupert  River. 

No  Robin  Hoods  of  legendary  lore  ever  lived  in 
more  complete  security  than  the  Gentlemen  Adven- 
turers of  Hudson  Bay.  Radisson — the  one  man  to 
be  feared  as  a  rival — had  been  compelled  by  the 
French  Court  to  join  them.  So  had  his  followers. 
The  forts  on  the  bay  seemed  immune  from  attack. 
To  the  south,  a  thousand  miles  of  juniper  swamp 
and  impassable  cataracts  separated  the  English  fur 
traders  from  the  fur  traders  of  New  France.  To 
the  west,  was  impenetrable,  unknown  wilderness. 
To  the  north,  the  realm  of  iron  cold.  The  Adven- 
turers of  Hudson  Bay  slumbered  secure  on  the 
margin  of  their  frozen  sea.  Rupert  and  Moose — 
the  forts  of  the  south — yearly  collected  5,000  beaver 
pelts  each,  not  counting  as  many  again  of  other  rare' 
furs.  Albany — where  the  bay  turns  north — gave  a 
yearly  quota  of  3,500,  and  Nelson  sent  out  as  much  as 
$100,000  worth  of  beaver  in  a  single  year.    The 

199 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Adventurers  had  found  a  gold  mine  rich  as  Spanish 
Eldorado. 

To  be  sure,  the  French  fur  traders,  who  had  been 
led  to  the  bay  by  Radisson  once,  would  now  be  able 
to  find  the  way  there  for  themselves,  but  the  French 
fur  traders  demanded  four  beavers  in  barter  where 
the  English  asked  only  two,  and  two  French  ships 
that  had  come  up  under  Lamartiniere  commissioned 
"to  seize  Radisson,"  could  neither  find  Radisson 
nor  an  Indian  who  would  barter  them  a  single  pelt. 
They  dare  not  land  at  Nelson,  for  it  was  now  Eng- 
lish. Reefing  sails,  Lamartiniere's  ships  spent  the 
summer  of  '85  dodging  the  ice  floes  and  hiding 
round  Digges'  Island  at  the  inside  end  of  the  straits 
for  reasons  that  young  Chouart  Groseillers  might 
have  explained  if  he  would. 

It  was  July  before  the  fleet  of  Hudson's  Bay  boats 
reached  the  straits.  Ice  jam  and  tide-rip  had 
presently  scattered  the  fleet.  As  usual,  the  smaller 
vessels  showed  their  heels  to  danger  and  slipping 
along  the  lee  edge  of  the  floes,  came  to  the  open  water 
of  the  bay  first.  The  Happy  Return^  under  Captain 
Bond  with  Monsieur  Radisson,  IMonsieur  Chouart 
and  his  comrades;  The  Success,  under  Captain  Out- 
law; The  Merchant  Perpetuana,  under  Captain 
Hume,  with  mates  Smithsend  and  Mike  Grimming- 
ton  l()(jking  anxiously  over  decks  at  the  tumult  of 

200 


Reasons  for  Groseiller's  Message  Explained 

ramming  ice  that  swept  past — came  worming  their 
way  laboriously  through  the  ice  floes,  small  sails  only 
out,  grappling  irons  hooked  to  the  floating  icepans, 
cables  of  iron  strength  hauling  and  pulling  the  frigates 
up  to  the  ice,  with  crews  out  to  their  armpits  in  ice 
slush  ready  to  loose  and  sheer  from  the  danger  of 
undertow  when  the  tide  ripple  came. 

On  July  27,  with  the  crews  forespent  and  the 
ships  badly  battered,  the  three  emerged  on  the  open 
water  of  Hudson  Bay  and  steered  to  rest  for  the 
night  under  shelter  of  the  rocky  shores  off  Digges' 
Island.  Like  ghosts  from  the  gloom,  shadows  took 
form  in  the  night  mist— two  ships  with  foreign  sails 
on  this  lonely  sea,  where  all  other  ships  were  for- 
bidden. In  a  trice,  the  deathly  silence  of  the  sea  is 
broken  by  the  roar  of  cannonading.  It  is  Monsieur 
Radisson,  on  whose  head  there  is  a  price,  who 
realizes  the  situation  first  and  with  a  shout  that  they 
are  trapped  by  French  raiders — by  Lamartiniere — 
bids  Captain  Bond  flee  for  his  Hfe.  Captain  Bond 
needs  no  urgings.  The  Happy  Return's  sails  are 
out  like  the  wings  of  a  frightened  bird  and  she  is  off 
like  a  terrified  quarry  pursued  by  a  hawk.  Nor  does 
Captain  Outlaw  on  The  Success  wait  for  argument. 
With  all  candles  instantly  put  out,  he,  too,  steers  for 
the  hiding  of  darkness  on  open  water.  The  Per- 
petuana  is  left  alone  wedged  between  Lamartiniere' s 

201 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


two  French  ships.  Hooked  gang  planks  seize  her 
on  both  sides  in  a  death  grapple.  Captain  Hume, 
Mates  Smithsend  and  Mike  Grimmington  with  half 
a  dozen  others  are  surrounded,  overpowered,  dis- 
armed, fettered  and  clapped  under  hatches  of  the 
victorious  ships.  Before  morning.  The  Perpetuana 
had  been  scuttled  of  her  cargo.  Fourteen  of  her 
crew  have  been  bayoneted  and  thrown  overboard. 
A  month  later,  cargo  and  vessel  and  captives  are  re- 
ceived with  acclaim  at  Quebec.  Captain  Hume  is 
sent  home  to  France  in  December  on  a  man-of-war 
to  lie  in  a  dungeon  of  Rochelle  till  he  can  obtain 
ransom.  So  are  Mr.  Richard  Alio  and  Andrew 
Stuckey — seamen.  The  rest  are  to  lie  in  the  cells 
below  Chateau  St.  Louis,  Quebec,  on  fare  of  bread 
and  water  for  six  months.  Mike  Grimmington  is 
held  and  "tortured"  to  compel  him  to  betray  the 
secrets  of  navigation  at  the  different  harbors  of 
Hudson  Bay,  but  Mate  Grimmington  tells  no  tales; 
for  he  learns  that  rumors  of  raid  are  in  the  air  at 
Quebec.  Though  England  and  France  are  at  peace, 
the  fur  traders  of  Quebec  are  asking  commission  for 
one  Chevalier  de  Troyes  with  the  brothers  of  the 
family  Le  Moyne,  to  raid  the  bay,  fire  the  forts, 
massacre  the  English.  Smithsend  by  secret  mes- 
senger sends  a  letter  with  warnings  of  the  designs  to 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  England,  and  Smith- 

202 


Reasons  for  Groseiller's  Message  Explained 

send  for  his  pains  is  sold  with  his  comrades  into 
slavery  in  Martinique,  whence  he  escapes  before 
spring.  Grimmington  is  held  prisoner  for  two  years 
before  a  direct  order  from  the  French  Court  sets  him 
free.  Other  things,  Grimmington  hears  in  Quebec 
of  the  French  on  the  bay. 

All  unsuspecting  of  plots  at  Quebec  and  pirate 
attacks  on  the  Company's  ships,  the  governors  of  the 
different  forts  on  the  bay  awaited  the  coming  of  the 
ships.  From  July,  it  was  customary  to  keep  harbor 
lights  out  on  the  sand-bars,  and  station  sentinels  day 
and  night  to  watch  for  the  incoming  fleet.  Secret 
codes  of  signals  had  been  left  the  year  before  with  the 
forts.  If  the  incoming  ships  did  not  display  these 
signals,  the  sentinels  were  ordered  to  cut  the  harbor 
buoys,  put  out  the  lights,  and  give  the  alarm.  If  the 
signals  were  correct,  cannon  roared  a  welcome,  flags 
were  run  up,  and  pilots  went  out  in  small  boats  to 
guide  the  ships  in  through  sand-bars  and  bowlder 
reefs. 

At  Albany,  Governor  Sargeant,  whose  wife  and 
family  were  now  with  him  at  the  fort — had  ordered 
a  sort  of  lookout,  or  crow's-nest,  built  of  scaffolding, 
on  a  hill  above  the  fort.  As  far  as  known,  not  a 
single  Englishman  had  up  to  this  time  penetrated 
the  wilds  west  of  the  bay.  One  Robert  Sanford 
had  been  ordered  this  very  year  to  "go  up  into  the 

203 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

country,"  but  fear  of  French  bush-rovers  made  him 
report  that  such  a  course  was  very  unsafe.  It  would 
be  wiser  and  safer  for  the  Company  to  give  hand- 
some presents  to  the  Indian  chiefs.  This  would 
induce  them  to  bring  their  tribes  down  to  the  bay. 
So  the  sentinel  at  Albany  could  hardly  believe  his 
senses  one  morning  when  from  the  eerie  height  of 
his  lookout  he  espied  three  men — three  white  men, 
steering  a  canoe  down  the  swift,  tumultuous  current 
of  the  rain-swollen  river.  They  were  coming  not 
from  the  sea,  but  from  the  Upcountry.  This  was 
a  contingency  the  cutting  of  harbor  buoys  had  not 
provided  against.  The  astounded  sentinel  ran  to 
Sargeant  with  the  alarm.  Cannon  were  manned 
and  Governor  Sargeant  took  his  stand  in  the  gate 
of  the  palisaded  walls. 

Beaching  their  canoe,  the  three  white  men  marched 
jauntily  up  to  the  governor.  The  shaggy  eyes  of 
the  bluff  old  governor  took  in  the  fact  that  the 
newcomers  were  French — Frenchmen  dressed  as 
bush-lopers,  but  with  the  manners  of  gentlemen, 
introducing  themselves  with  the  debonair  gayety  of 
their  race.  Monsieur  Per^,  Monsieur  Coultier  de 
Comporte  and  a  third,  whose  name  is  lost  to  the 
records.  Old  Governor  Sargeant  scratched  his  burly 
beard.  England  and  France  were  at  peace,  very 
much  at  peace  when  France  had  sent  Radisson  back; 

204 


Reasons  for  Groseiller's  Mcsscuje  Ex  plait  wd 

and  he  must  treat  the  visitors  with  courtesy;  but 
what  were  gentlemen  doing  dressed  as  bush-rovers? 
Hunting — taking  their  pleasure  where  they  found 
it — knights  of  the  wild  woods — says  my  good  friend, 
Jan  Pere,  doffing  his  fur  capote  with  a  bow.  Gov- 
ernor Sargeant  hails  good  friend  Pere  into  the  fort, 
to  a  table  loaded  with  game  and  good  wine  and  the 
hospitality  of  white  men  lonely  for  companionship 
as  a  sail  at  sea.  The  wine  passes  freely  and  stories 
pass  freely,  stories  of  the  hunt  and  the  voyage  and  of 
Monsieur  Radisson  and  his  friends,  whom  the  Gov- 
ernor expects  back  this  year — soon,  very  soon,  any 
day  now  the  ships  may  come. 

But  at  base,  every  Hudson's  Bay  Company  man 
is  a  trader.  Governor  Sargeant  evincing  no  zealous 
desire  to  extend  his  hospitality  longer,  Monsieur 
Pere  tactfully  evinces  no  desire  to  stay.  The  gay 
adventurers  aver  they  are  going  to  coast  along  the 
shore — that  alkali  shore  between  the  main  coast  of 
cedar  swamps  and  the  outer  reef  of  bowlders — 
where  good  sport  among  feathered  game  is  to  be  ex- 
pected. Once  they  are  out  of  sight  from  Albany,  the 
three  Frenchmen  rest  on  their  paddles  and  confer. 
They  had  not  counted  on  leaving  quite  so  soon. 
Still  gay  as  schoolboys  on  an  escapade,  that  night 
as  they  sleep  on  shore  under  the  stars,  they  take  good 
care  to  leave  their  canoe  so  that  the  high  tide  carries 

205 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

it  out  to  sea.  What  is  to  be  done  now — a  thousand 
miles  by  swamp  from  the  nearest  French  fort? 
Presto — go  back  to  the  English  fort,  of  course;  and 
back  they  trudge  to  Albany  with  their  specious  farce 
of  misadventure. 

Meanwhile,  Outlaw  on  The  Success,  had  arrived  at 
Albany  with  the  tale  of  Lamartiniere's  raid  and  the 
loss  of  The  Perpctuana.  Before  Monsieur  Jan 
Per6  can  feign  astonishment— he  is  dumfounded  at 
the  news,  is  Monsieur  Fere — Governor  Sargeant  has 
clapped  irons  on  his  wrists  and  irons  on  his  feet. 
The  fair-tongued  spy  is  cast  manacled  into  the  bas- 
tion that  served  as  prison  at  Albany,  and  his  two 
comrades  are  transported  across  to  Charlton  Island 
to  earn  their  living  hunting  till  they  have  learned  that 
no  one  may  tamper  with  the  fur  trade  of  the  English 
adventurers.  What  welcome  Chouart  Groseillers 
and  his  French  comrades  received — is  not  told  in 
Hudson's  Bay  annals.  They  go  north  to  Nelson 
for  the  next  four  years,  then  drop  from  the  pay  lists 
of  the  Company,  and  reappear  as  fur  traders  of  New 
France.  It  would  hardly  be  stretching  historic  fact 
to  infer  that  these  daring  French  youths  took  to  the 
tall  timbers. 

Over  on  Charlton  Island,  Pere's  comrades  hunted 
as  to  the  wildwoods  born;  hunted  so  diligently  that 
by  September  they  had  store  enough  of  food  to  stock 

206 


Reasons  for  Groseiller's  Message  Explained 

them  for  the  winter.  By  September  the  boats  that 
met  at  Charlton  Island  had  sailed.  No  one  was  left 
to  watch  the  Frenchmen.  They  hastily  constructed 
for  themselves  a  large  canoe,  loaded  it  with  their 
provisions,  set  out  under  cover  of  night  and  reached 
the  south  shore  of  James  Bay,  keeping  well  away  from 
Moose  and  Rupert  River.  Then  they  paddled  for 
life  upstream  toward  New  France.  By  October, 
ice  formed,  cutting  the  canoe.  They  killed  a 
moose,  cured  the  buckskin  above  punk  smoke,  made 
themselves  snowshoes  and  marched  overland  seven 
hundred  miles  to  the  French  fort  at  Michilimackinac. 
Word  ran  like  wildfire  from  Lake  Superior  to  Quebec 
— Jan  Pere  was  held  in  prison  at  Albany.  These 
were  the  rumors  Mike  Grimmington  and  Richard 
Smithsend  heard  from  their  prison  cells  under 
Chateau  St.  Louis.  If  these  two  spies  can  march 
overland  in  midwinter,  cannot  a  band  of  bush-rovers 
march  overland  to  the  rescue  of  Pere?  France  and 
England  are  at  peace;  but  Albany  holds  Pere  in 
prison,  and  Quebec  holds  Mike  Grimmington  and 
Smithsend  in  the  cellar  of  the  Chateau  St.  Louis. 

Up  on  the  bay,  old  Sargeant  was  puzzled  what 
to  do  with  Pere.  All  told,  there  were  only  eighty- 
nine  men  on  Hudson  Bay  at  this  time.  It  was  de- 
cided that  Outlaw  should  remain  for  the  winter  with 

207 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Sargeant,  but  take  Pere  up  to  Captains  Bond  and 
Lucas  at  Nelson  to  be  shipped  home  to  England, 
where  the  directors  could  decide  on  his  fate.  On 
October  27,  Bond  and  Lucas  arrived  in  London, 
and  on  October  29,  the  minutes  of  the  Company 
report  ''one  Monsieur  Jan  Pere  sent  home  by  Gov- 
ernor Sargeant  as  a  French  spy."  The  full  report 
of  The  Pcrpetuana^s  loss  was  laid  before  the  Company 
on  the  30th.  On  November  4,  Monsieur  Pere  is 
examined  by  a  committee.  Within  a  week  the  suave 
spy  suffers  such  a  change  of  heart,  he  applies  on 
November  11  for  the  privilege  of  joining  the  Com- 
pany. Before  the  Company  have  given  answer  to 
that  request,  comes  a  letter  from  Captain  Hume 
dated  December  13,  Rochelle,  France,  giving  a 
full  account  of  the  wreck  of  The  Perpetuana,  the 
indignities  suffered  at  Quebec,  stating  that  he  is  in 
a  dungeon  awaiting  the  Company's  ransom.  Cap- 
tain Hume  is  ordered  to  pay  what  ransom  is  neces- 
sary and  come  to  England  at  once,  but  it  is  manifest 
that  the  French  spy,  Jan  Pere,  must  be  held  for  the 
safety  of  the  other  English  prisoners  at  Quebec. 
The  Company  lodges  a  suit  of  £5,000  damages  against 
him,  which  will  keep  Pere  in  gaol  till  he  can  find 
bail,  and  when  he  sends  word  to  know  the  reason 
for  such  outrage,  the  minutes  of  the  Company  glibly 
put  on  record  'Hhat  he  hath  damnified  the  company 

208 


Reasons  for  Groseiller's  Message  Explained 


very  considerably.''  Unofficially,  he  is  told  that  the 
safety  of  his  life  depends  on  the  safety  of  those  Eng- 
lish prisoners  held  at  Quebec.  In  January  arrives 
Captain  Hume,  putting  on  record  his  affidavit  of  the 
wreck  of  The  Perpetuana.  In  February,  1686, 
comes  that  letter  from  Smithscnd  which  he  smuggled 
out  of  his  prison  in  Quebec,  "ve  conteyits  to  he  kept 
private  and  secret'^  warning  the  Company  that 
raiders  are  leaving  Canada  overland  for  the  bay. 
By  March,  Jan  Pere  is  on  his  knees  to  join  the  Com- 
pany. The  Company  lets  him  stay  on  his  knees  in 
prison.  All  is  bustle  at  Hudson's  Bay  House  fitting 
out  frigates  for  the  next  summer.  Eighteen  extra 
men  are  to  be  sent  to  Albany,  twelve  to  Moose,  six  to 
Rupert.  Monsieur  Radisson  is  instructed  to  inspect 
the  large  guns  sent  over  from  Holland  to  be  sent  out 
to  the  bay.  Monsieur  Radisson  advises  the  Company 
to  fortify  Nelson  especially  strongly,  for  hence  come 
the  best  furs. 

The  Company  is  determined  to  be  ready  for  the 
raid,  but  the  straits  will  not  be  clear  of  ice  before 

July- 

Notes  on  Chapter  XI. — The  contents  of  this  chapter  are  taken 
from  the  Minutes  of  the  Company,  Hudson's  Bay  House.  All 
French  records  state  that  Hume  was  killed  in  the  loss  of  The 
Perpetuana.  As  I  have  his  letter  from  Rochelle,  dated  Decem- 
ber, 1685,  this  is  a  mistake.  He  reached  England,  January, 
1686,  and  his  affidavit  is  in  Hudson's  Bay  House.  Captam 
Bond  was  severely  censured  by  the  Company  for  deserting  The 

209 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


Perpetuana.  If  he  had  not  fled,  the  French  would  without  a 
doubt  have  dispatched  Radisson  on  the  spot.  Some  of  the 
men  of  The  Perpetuana  spent  two  years  imprisoned  in  Quebec. 
Up  to  this  time,  by  wreck  and  raid,  including  sloops  as  well  as 
frigates — the  Company  had  lost  thirteen  vessels.  Record  of 
Pdrd  is  found  also  in  French  state  documents  of  this  date. 
Smithsend  escaped  to  England,  February  14,  1686. 


210 


CHAPTER  XII 
1686-1687 

PIERRE  LE    MOYNE    d'iBERVILLE    SWEEPS    THE    BAY 

WITH  Captain  Outlaw's  crew  adding 
strength  to  Albany,  and  Governor  Brid- 
gar's  crew  wintering  at  Rupert  River, 
the  Adventurers  on  Hudson  Bay  once  more  felt 
secure.  Like  a  bolt  from  the  blue  came  the  French 
raiders  into  the  midst  of  this  security. 

It  was  one  of  the  long  summer  nights  on  the  i8th 
of  June,  1686,  when  twilight  of  the  North  merges 
with  dawn.  Fourteen  cannon  in  all  protruded  from 
the  embrasures  of  the  four  stone  bastions  round 
Moose  Factory — the  southwest  corner  of  the  bay; 
and  the  eighteen-foot  pickets  of  the  palisaded  square 
wall  were  everywhere  punctured  with  holes  for 
musketry.  In  one  bastion  were  three  thousand 
pounds  of  powder.  In  another,  twelve  soldiers  slept. 
In  a  third  were  stored  furs.  The  fourth  bastion 
served  as  kitchen.  Across  the  middle  of  the  court- 
yard was  the  two-story  storehouse  and  residence 
of  the  chief  factor.    The  sentinel  had  shot  the  strong 

2U 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

iron  bolts  of  the  main  gate  facing  the  waterway,  and 
had  lain  down  to  sleep  wrapped  in  a  blanket  without 
loading  the  cannon  it  was  his  duty  to  guard.  Twi- 
light of  the  long  June  night — almost  the  longest  day 
in  the  year — had  deepened  into  the  white  stillness 
that  precedes  dawn,  when  two  forms  took  shape  in 
the  thicket  of  underbrush  behind  the  fort,  and  there 
stepped  forth  clad  in  buckskin  cap-a-pie,  musket  over 
shoulder,  war  hatchet,  powderhorn,  dagger,  pistol  in 
belt  and  unscabbarded  sword  aglint  in  hand,  two 
French  wood-lopers,  the  far-famed  coureurs  des  hois, 
whose  scalping  raids  were  to  strike  terror  from 
Louisiana  to  Hudson  Bay. 

At  first  glance,  the  two  scouts  might  have  been 
marauding  Iroquois  come  this  outrageous  distance 
through  swamp  and  forest  from  their  own  fighting 
ground.  Closer  scrutiny  showed  them  to  be  young 
French  noblemen,  Pierre  le  Moyne  d'Iberville,  age 
twenty-four,  and  his  brother,  Sainte  Helene,  native 
to  the  roving  life  of  the  bushranger,  to  pillage  and 
raid  and  ambuscade  as  the  war-eagle  to  prey.  Born 
in  Montreal  in  i66t  and  schooled  to  all  the  wilder- 
ness perils  of  the  struggling  colony's  early  life,  Pierre 
le  Moyne,  one  of  nine  sons  of  Charles  le  Moyne,  at 
Montreal,  became  the  Robin  Hood  of  American 
wilds. 

Sending  his  brother  Ste.  Helene  round  one  side  of 

212 


Le  Moyne  d'Iberville  Sweeps  the  Bay 

the  pickets  to  peer  through  the  embrasures  of  the 
moonlit  fortress,  Pierre  le  Moyne  d'Iberville  skirted 
the  other  side  himself  and  quickly  made  the  dis- 
covery that  not  one  of  the  cannon  was  loaded.  The 
tompion  was  in  every  muzzle.  Scarcely  a  cat's-paw 
of  wind  dimpled  the  waters.  The  bay  was  smooth 
as  silk.  Not  a  twig  crunched  beneath  the  moccasined 
tread  of  the  two  spies.  There  was  the  white  silence, 
the  white  midnight  pallor  of  Arctic  night,  the  diaph- 
anous play  of  Northern  lights  over  skyey  waters,  the 
fine  etched  shadows  of  juniper  and  fir  and  spruce 
black  as  crayon  across  the  pale-amber  swamps. 

With  a  quick  glance,  dTberville  and  his  brother 
took  in  every  detail.  Then  they  melted  back  in  the 
pallid  half-light  like  shadows.  In  a  trice,  a  hundred 
forms  had  taken  shape  in  the  mist — sixty-six  Indians 
decked  in  all  the  war-gear  of  savage  glory  from  head- 
dress and  vermilion  cheeks  to  naked  red-stained 
limbs  lithe  as  tiger,  smooth  and  supple  as  satin — 
sixty-six  Indians  and  thirty-three  half-wild  French 
soldiers  gay  in  all  the  regimentals  of  French  pomp, 
commanded  by  old  Chevalier  de  Troyes,  veteran 
of  a  hundred  wars,  now  commissioned  to  demand  the 
release  of  Monsieur  Pere  from  the  forts  of  the  Eng- 
lish fur  traders.  Beside  De  Troyes,  stood  De  la 
Chesnay,  head  of  the  Northern  Company  of  Fur 
Traders  in  Quebec,  only  too  glad  of  this  chance  to 

213 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

raid  the  forts  of  rivals.  And  well  to  the  fore,  cross 
in  hand,  head  bared,  the  Jesuit  Sylvie  had  come 
to  rescue  the  souls  of  Northern  heathendom  from 
hell. 

Impossible  as  it  may  seem,  these  hundred  intrepid 
wood-nmners  had  come  overland  from  Montreal. 
While  Grimmington  and  Smithsend  were  still  in 
prison  at  Quebec,  d'Iberville  and  his  half-wild  fol- 
lowers had  set  out  in  midwinter  on  a  voyage  men 
hardly  dared  in  summer.  Without  waiting  for  the 
ice  to  break  up,  leaving  Montreal  in  March,  they  had 
followed  the  frozen  river  bed  of  the  Ottawa  north- 
ward, past  the  Rideau  and  Chaudiere  Falls  tossing 
their  curtains  of  spray  in  mid-air  where  the  city  of 
Ottawa  stands  to-day,  past  the  Mattawa  which  led 
off  to  the  portages  of  Michilimackinac  and  the  Great 
Lakes,  up  the  palisaded  shores  of  the  Temiscamingue 
to  Lake  Abbittibbi,  the  half-way  watershed  between 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  Hudson  Bay.  French  silver 
mines,  which  the  English  did  not  rediscover  to  the 
present  century,  were  worked  at  Temiscamingue. 
At  Abbittibbi,  a  stockade  was  built  in  the  month  of 
May,  and  three  Canadians  left  to  keep  guard.  Here, 
too,  pause  was  made  to  construct  canoes  for  the 
voyage  down  the  watershed  of  Moose  River  to 
James  Bay.  Instead  of  waiting  for  the  ice  of  the 
Ottawa  to  break  up,  the  raiders  had  forced  their 

214 


Le  Moyne  d^IherviUe  Siveeps  the  Bay 

march  to  be  on  time  to  float  down  on  the  swollen 
currents  of  the  spring  thaw  to  Moose  Factory,  four- 
hundred  miles  from  the  height  of  land. 

And  a  march  forced  against  the  very  powers  of  the 
elements,  it  had  proved.  No  tents  were  carried; 
only  the  blanket,  knapsack  fashion,  tied  to  each 
man's  back.  Bivouac  was  made  under  the  stars. 
No  provisions  but  what  each  blanket  carried!  No 
protection  but  the  musket  over  shoulder,  the  war  axe 
and  powderhorn,  and  pistol  in  belt!  No  reward 
but  the  vague  promise  of  loot  from  the  English  wig- 
wamming — as  the  Indians  say — on  the  Northern 
Bay!  Do  the  border  raids  of  older  lands  record 
more  heroic  daring  than  this?  A  march  through 
six-hundred  miles  of  trackless  forest  in  midwinter, 
then  down  the  maelstrom  sweep  of  torrents  swollen  by 
spring  thaw,  for  three-hundred  miles  to  the  juniper 
swamps  of  rotting  windfall  and  dank  forest  growth 
around  the  bay? 

If  the  march  had  been  difficult  by  snowshoe,  it 
was  ten-fold  more  now.  Unknown  cataracts,  un- 
known whirlpools,  unknown  reaches  of  endless 
rapids  dashed  the  canoes  against  the  ice  jam,  under 
huge  trunks  of  rotting  trees  lying  athwart  the  way, 
so  that  Pierre  d'Iberville's  canoe  was  swamped,  two 
of  his  voyageurs  swept  to  death  before  his  eyes,  and 
two  others  only  saved  by  d'Iberville,  himself,  leaping 

215 


The  Conquest  of  ihe  Great  Northwest 

to  the  rescue  and  dragging  them  ashore.  In  places, 
the  ice  had  to  be  cut  away  with  hatchets.  In  places, 
portage  was  made  over  the  ice  jams,  men  sinking  to 
their  armpits  in  a  slither  of  ice  and  snow.  For  as 
long  as  eleven  miles,  the  canoes  were  tracked  over 
rapids  with  the  men  wading  barefoot  over  ice-cold, 
slippery  river  bed. 

It  had  been  no  play,  this  fur-trade  raid,  and  now 
Iberville  was  back  from  his  scouting,  having  seen 
with  his  own  eyes  that  the  English  fur  traders  were 
really  wigwamming  on  the  bay — by  which  the  Indians 
meant  ''wintering."  Hastily,  all  burdens  of  blanket 
and  food  and  clothes  were  cast  aside  and  cached. 
Hastily,  each  raider  fell  to  his  knees  invoking  the 
blessing  of  Ste.  Anne,  patron  saint  of  Canadian 
voyageur.  Hastily,  the  Jesuit  Sylvie  passed  from 
man  to  man  absolving  all  sin;  for  these  men  fought 
with  all  the  Spartan  ferocity  of  the  Indian  fighter — 
that  it  was  better  to  die  fighting  than  to  suffer  torture 
in  defeat. 

Then  each  man  recharged  his  musket  lest  the 
swamp  mists  had  dampened  powder.  Perhaps, 
Iberville  reminded  his  bush-lopers  that  the  Sov- 
ereign Council  of  Quebec  had  a  standing  offer  of  ten 
crowns  reward  for  every  enemy  slain,  twenty  crowns 
for  every  enemy  captured.  Perhaps,  old  Chevalier 
de  Troyes  called  up  memories  of  Dollard's  fight  on 

216 


Le  Moyne  d' Iberville  Sweeps  the  Bay 

the  Long  Sault  twenty  years  before,  and  warned  his 
thirty  soldiers  that  there  was  no  retreat  now  through 
a  thousand  miles  of  forest.  They  must  win  or  perish ! 
Perhaps  Dechesnay,  the  fur  trader,  told  these  wood- 
rovers  that  in  at  least  one  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  forts  were  fifty-thousand  crowns'  worth 
of  beaver  to  be  divided  as  spoils  among  the  victors. 
De  Troyes  led  his  soldiers  round  the  fore  to  make  a 
feint  of  furious  onslaught  from  the  water  front. 
Iberville  posted  his  Indians  along  each  flank  to 
fire  through  the  embrasures  of  the  pickets.  Then, 
with  a  wild  yell,  the  French  raiders  swooped  upon 
the  sleeping  fort.  Iberville  and  his  brothers,  Ste. 
Helene  and  Maricourt,  were  over  the  rear  pickets 
and  across  the  courtyard,  swords  in  hand,  before  the 
sleepy  gunner  behind  the  main  gate  could  get  his 
eyes  open.  One  blow  of  Ste.  Helene's  saber  split 
the  fellow's  head  to  the  collar  bone.  The  trunk  of 
a  tree  was  used  to  ram  the  main  gate.  Iberville's 
Indians  had  hacked  down  the  rear  pickets,  and  he, 
himself,  led  the  way  into  the  house.  Before  the  six- 
teen terrified  inmates  dashing  out  in  their  shirts  had 
realized  what  was  happening,  the  raiders  were 
masters  of  Moose.  Only  one  man  besides  the  gunner 
was  killed,  and  he  was  a  Frenchman  slain  by  the 
cross-fire  of  his  comrades.  Cellars  were  searched, 
but   there   was   small   loot.    Furs   were   evidently 

217 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

stored  elsewhere,  but  the  French  were  the  richer  by 
sixteen  captives,  twelve  portable  cannon,  and  three- 
thousand  pounds  of  powder.  Flag  unfurled,  mus- 
kets firing,  sod  heaved  in  air,  Chevalier  de  Troyes 
took  possession  of  the  fort  for  the  Most  Redoubtable, 
Most  Mighty,  Most  Christian  King  of  France,  though 
a  cynic  might  wonder  how  such  an  act  was  accom- 
plished in  time  of  peace,  when  the  sole  object  of  the 
raid  had  been  the  rescue  of  Monsieur  Pere,  im- 
prisoned as  a  spy. 

Eastward  of  Moose,  a  hundred  and  thirty  miles 
along  the  south  coast  of  the  bay  on  Rupert's  River, 
was  the  other  fort,  stronger,  the  bastions  of  stone, 
with  a  dock  where  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
ships  commonly  anchored  for  the  summer.  North- 
westward of  Moose,  some  hundred  miles,  was  a  third 
fort,  Albany,  the  citadel  of  the  English  fur  traders' 
strength,  forty  paces  back  from  the  water.  Unas- 
sailable by  sea,  it  was  the  storehouse  of  the  best  furs. 
It  was  decided  to  attack  Rupert  first.  Staying  only 
long  enough  at  IMoose  to  build  a  raft  to  carry  Cheva- 
lier de  Troyes  and  his  prisoners  along  the  coast,  the 
raiders  set  out  by  sea  on  the  27th  of  June. 

Iberville  led  the  way  with  two  canoes  and  eight 
or  nine  men.  By  sailboat,  it  was  necessary  to  round 
a  long  point  of  land.  By  canoe,  this  land  could  be 
portaged,  and  Iberville  was  probably  the  first  man 

218 


v(»;  — 


\f  ^L'    LX/n-^Ur  rn  ,    .•L'."ic?/{^-/in'     f  l'J    / //-c  ^//^ /'*/*•  r/y  <//- 

■'   >  ^     •     -  ^.      ■'■/..'      ^     ^\       '     ''     f 

>••  I- 


'il  '  '<r/v  ^v    cV     vv-'v  /i-^/-/ 1^^ 


/ 


~y 


Petition  to  the  H.  B.  C.  signed  by  Churchill,  or  Marlborough. 


Le  Moyne  (TlbervUle  Sweep.s  fhe  Bay 

to  blaze  the  trail  across  the  swamp,  which  has  been 
used  by  hunters  from  that  day  to  this.  By  the  first 
of  July,  he  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  Rupert's  bastions 
through  the  woods.  Concealing  his  Indians,  he 
went  forward  to  reconnoiter.  To  his  delight,  he 
espied  the  Company's  ship  with  the  H.  B.  C.  ensign 
flying  that  signified  Governor  Bridgar  was  on  board. 
Choosing  the  night,  as  usual,  for  attack,  Iberville 
stationed  his  bandits  where  they  could  fire  on  the 
decks  if  necessary.  Then  he  glided  across  the  water 
to  the  schooner. 

Hand  over  fist,  he  was  up  the  ship's  sides  when 
the  sleeping  sentinel  awakened  with  a  spring  at  his 
throat.  One  cleft  of  Iberville's  sword,  and  the 
fellow  rolled  dead  at  the  Frenchman's  feet.  Iber- 
ville then  stamped  on  the  deck  to  call  the  crew  aloft, 
and  sabered  three  men  in  turn  as  they  tumbled  up 
the  hatchway,  till  the  fourth.  Governor  Bridgar,  him- 
self, threw  up  his  hands  in  unconditional  surrender  of 
the  ship  and  crew  of  fourteen.  Twice  in  four  years, 
Bridgar  found  himself  a  captive.  The  din  had 
alarmed  the  fort.  Though  the  bastions  were  dis- 
mantled for  repairs,  gates  were  slammed  shut  and 
musketry  poured  hot  shot  through  the  embrasures, 
that  kept  the  raiders  at  a  distance.  Again,  it  was  the 
Le  Moyne  brothers  who  led  the  fray.  The  bastions 
served  the  usual  two-fold  purpose  of  defense  and 

219 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

barracks.  Extemporizing  ladders,  Iberville  went 
scrambling  up  like  a  monkey  to  the  roofs,  hacked 
holes  through  the  rough  thatch  of  the  bastions  and 
threw  down  hand  grenades  at  the  imminent  risk  of 
blowing  himself  as  well  as  the  enemy  to  eternity. 
"It  was,"  says  the  old  chronicle,  ''with  an  effect 
most  admirable" — which  depends  on  the  point  of 
view;  for  when  the  defenders  were  driven  from 
the  bastions  to  the  main  house  inside,  gates  were 
rammed  down,  palisades  hacked  out,  and  Iberville 
with  his  followers,  was  on  the  roof  of  the  main  house 
throwing  down  more  bombs.  As  one  explosive  left 
his  hand,  a  terrified  English  woman  dashed  up 
stairs  into  the  room  directly  below.  Iberville 
shouted  for  her  to  retire.  The  explosion  drowned 
his  warning,  and  the  next  moment  he  was  down 
stairs  dashing  from  hall  to  hall,  candle  in  hand,  fol- 
lowed by  the  priest,  Sylvie.  A  plaintive  cry  came 
from  the  closet  of  what  had  been  the  factor's  room. 
Followed  by  his  powder-grimed,  wild  raiders,  Iber- 
ville threw  open  the  door.  With  a  scream,  there  fell 
at  his  feet  a  woman  with  a  shattered  hip.  However 
black  a  record  these  raiders  left  for  braining  children 
and  mutilating  women,  four  years  later  in  what  is  now 
New  York  State,  they  made  no  war  on  women  here. 
Lifting  her  to  a  bed,  the  priest  Sylvie  and  Iberville 
called  in  the  surgeon,  and  barring  the  door  from  the 

220 


Le  Moyne  d' Iberville  Sweep.s  the  Bay 

outside,  forbade  intrusion.  The  raid  became  a  riot. 
The  French  possessed  Rupert,  though  little  the 
richer  but  for  the  ship  and  thirty  prisoners. 

The  wild  wood-rovers  were  now  strong  enough  to 
attempt  Albany,  three  hundred  miles  northwest.  It 
was  at  Albany  that  the  French  spy  Pere  was  supposed 
to  be  panting  for  rescue.  It  was  also  at  Albany  that 
the  English  fur  traders  had  their  greatest  store  of 
pelts.  As  usual,  Iberville  led  off  in  canoes;  De 
Troyes,  the  French  fur  traders,  the  soldiers  and  the 
captives  following  with  the  cannon  on  the  ship.  It 
was  sunset  when  the  canoes  launched  out  from  Ru- 
pert River.  To  save  time  by  crossing  the  south  end 
of  the  bay  diagonally,  they  had  sheered  out  from  the 
coast  when  there  blew  down  from  the  upper  bay  one 
of  those  bitter  northeast  gales,  that  at  once  swept  a 
maelstrom  of  churning  ice  floes  about  the  cockleshell 
birch  canoes.  To  make  matters  worse,  fog  fell  thick 
as  night.  A  birch  canoe  in  a  cross  sea  is  bad  enough. 
With  ice  floes  it  was  destruction. 

Some  made  for  the  main  shore  and  took  refuge  on 
land.  The  Le  Moynes'  two  canoes  kept  on.  A  sea 
of  boiling  ice  floes  got  between  the  two.  There  was 
nothing  to  do  for  the  night  but  camp  on  the  shifting 
ice,  hanging  for  dear  life  to  the  canoe  held  high  on  the 
voyageurs'  heads  out  of  danger,  clinging  hand  to 
hand  so  that  if  one  man  slithered  through  the  ice- 

221 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Great  Northwest 

slush  the  human  rope  pulled  him  out.  It  was  a  new 
kind  of  canoe  work  for  Iberville's  Indians.  When 
daylight  came  through  the  gray  fog,  Iberville  did  not 
wait  for  the  weather  to  clear.  He  kept  guns  firing 
to  guide  the  canoe  that  followed  and  pushed  across 
the  traverse,  portaging  where  there  was  ice,  pad- 
dling where  there  was  water.  Four  days  the  traverse 
lasted,  and  not  once  did  this  Robin  Hood  of  Canadian 
wildwoods  flinch.  The  first  of  August  saw  his  In- 
dians and  bush-lopers  below  the  embankments  of 
Albany.  A  few  days  later  came  De  Troyes  on  the 
boat  with  soldiers  and  cannon. 

Governor  Sargeant  of  Albany  had  been  warned  of 
the  raiders  by  Indian  coureurs.  The  fort  was  shut 
fast  as  a  sealed  box.  Neither  side  gave  sign.  Not 
till  the  French  began  trundling  their  cannon  ashore 
by  all  sorts  of  clumsy  contrivances  to  get  them  in 
range  of  the  fort  forty  yards  back,  was  there  a  sign 
of  life,  when  forty-three  big  guns  inside  the  wall  of 
Albany  simultaneously  let  go  forty-three  bombs  in 
midair  that  flattened  the  raiders  to  earth  under 
shelter  of  the  embankment.  Chevalier  De  Troyes 
then  mustered  all  the  pomp  and  fustian  of  court 
pageantry,  flag  flying,  drummers  beating  to  the  fore, 
guard  in  line,  and  marching  forward  demanded  of 
the  English  traders,  come  half-way  out  to  meet  him, 
satisfaction  for  and  the  delivery  of  Sieur  Pere,  a 

222 


Le  Moyne  d'lhcrville  Sweeps  the  Bay 

loyal  subject  of  France  suffering  imprisonment  on 
the  shores  of  Hudson  Bay  at  the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
lish. One  may  wonder,  perhaps,  what  these  raiders 
would  have  done  without  the  excuse  of  Perc.  The 
messenger  came  back  from  Governor  Sargeant  with 
word  that  Pere  had  been  sent  home  to  France  by  way 
of  England  long  ago.  (That  Pere  had  been  delayed 
in  an  English  prison  was  not  told.)  De  Troyes  then 
pompously  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  fort. 
Sargeant  sent  back  word  such  a  demand  was  an 
insult  in  time  of  peace.  Under  cover  of  night  the 
French  retired  to  consider.  With  an  extravagance 
now  lamented,  they  had  used  at  Rupert  the  most  of 
their  captured  ammunition.  Cannon,  they  had  in 
plenty,  but  only  a  few  rounds  of  balls.  They  had 
thirty  prisoners,  but  no  provisions;  a  ship,  but  no 
booty  of  furs.  Between  them  and  home  lay  a  wilder- 
ness of  forest  and  swamp.  They  must  capture  the 
fort  by  an  escalade,  or  retreat  empty-handed. 

Inside  the  fort  such  bedlam  reigned  as  might  have 
delighted  the  raiders'  hearts.  Sargeant,  the  sturdy 
old  governor,  was  for  keeping  his  teeth  clinched  to 
the  end,  though  the  larder  was  lean  and  only  enough 
powder  left  to  do  the  French  slight  damage  as  they 
landed  their  cannon.  When  a  servant  fell  dead 
from  a  French  ball,  Turner,  the  chief  gunner,  dashed 
from  his  post  roaring  out  he  was  going  to  throw 

223 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

himself  on  the  mercy  of  the  French.  Sargeant 
rounded  the  fellow  back  to  his  guns  with  the  generous 
promise  to  blow  his  brains  out  if  he  budged  an  inch. 
Two  English  spies  sent  out  came  back  with  word 
the  French  were  mounting  their  battery  in  the  dark. 
Instantly,  there  was  a  scurry  of  men  to  hide  in  attics, 
in  cellars,  under  bales  of  fur,  while  six  worthies,  over 
signed  names,  presented  a  petition  to  the  sturdy  old 
governor,  imploring  him  to  surrender.  Declaring 
they  would  not  fight  without  an  advance  of  pay  any- 
way, they  added  in  words  that  should  go  down  to 
posterity,  '^  for  if  any  of  us  lost  a  leg,  the  company 
could  not  make  it  good.^^  Still  Sargeant  kept  his 
teeth  set,  his  gates  shut,  his  guns  spitting  defiance  at 
the  enemy. 

For  two  days  bombs  sang  back  and  forward 
through  the  air.  There  was  more  parleying.  Brid- 
gar,  the  governor  captured  down  at  Rupert,  came 
to  tell  Sargeant  that  the  French  were  desperate;  if 
they  were  compelled  to  fight  to  the  end,  there  would 
be  no  quarter.  Still  Sargeant  hoped  against  hope 
for  the  yearly  English  vessel  to  relieve  the  siege. 
Then  Captain  Outlaw  came  from  the  powder  mag- 
azines with  word  there  was  no  more  ammunition. 
The  people  threw  down  their  arms  and  threatened 
to  desert  en  masse  to  the  French.  Sargeant  still 
stubbornly  refused  to  beat  a  park'}';  so  Dixon,  the 

224 


Le  Moyne  d' Iberville  Sweeps  tlie  Baij 

under  factor,  hung  out  a  white  sheet  as  flag  of  truce, 
from  an  upper  window.  The  French  had  just 
ceased  firing  to  cool  their  cannon.  They  had  actually 
been  reduced  to  melting  iron  round  wooden  disks 
for  balls,  when  the  messenger  came  out  with  word 
of  surrender.  BlufT  and  resolute  to  the  end,  Sargeant 
marched  out  with  two  flagons  of  port,  seated  himself 
on  the  French  cannon,  drank  healths  with  De 
Troyes,  and  proceeded  to  drive  as  hard  a  bargain  as 
if  his  larders  had  been  crammed  and  his  magazines 
full  of  powder.  Drums  beating,  flags  flying,  in  full 
possession  of  arms,  governor,  officers,  wives  and  ser- 
vants were  to  be  permitted  to  march  out  in  honor, 
to  be  transported  to  Charlton  Island,  there  to  await 
the  coming  of  the  English  ship. 

Barely  had  the  thirty  English  sallied  out,  when 
the  bush-lopers  dashed  into  the  fort,  ransacking  house 
and  cellar.  The  fifty-thousand-crowns'  worth  of 
beaver  were  found,  but  not  a  morsel  of  food  except 
one  bowl  of  barley  sprouts.  Thirteen  hundred 
miles  from  Canada  with  neither  powder  nor  food! 
De  Troyes  gave  his  men  leave  to  disband  on 
August  lo,  and  it  was  a  wild  scramble  for  home — 
sauve  qui  pent,  as  the  old  chronicler  relates,  some  of 
the  prisoners  being  taken  to  Quebec  as  carriers  of  the 
raided  furs,  others  to  the  number  of  fifty,  being  turned 
adrift  in  the  desolate  wilderness  of  the  bay!    It  was 

225 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

October  before  Iberville's  forest  rovers  were  back 
in  Montreal. 

From  Charlton  Island,  the  English  refugees  found 
their  way  up  to  Port  Nelson,  there  to  go  back  on  the 
annual  ship  to  England.  Among  these  were  Bridgar 
and  Outlaw,  but  the  poor  outcasts,  who  were  driven 
to  the  woods,  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  servants,  who 
were  compelled  to  carry  the  loot  for  the  French 
raiders  back  to  Quebec^suffered  slim  mercies  from 
their  captors.  Those  round  Albany  were  compelled 
to  act  as  beasts  of  burden  for  the  small  French  garri- 
son, and  received  no  food  but  what  they  hunted. 
Some  perished  of  starvation  outside  the  walls.  Others 
attempted  to  escape  north  overland  to  Nelson.  Of 
the  crew  from  Outlaw's  ship  Success,  eight  perished 
on  the  way  north,  and  the  surviving  six  were  accused 
of  cannibalism.  In  all,  fifty  English  fur  traders 
were  set  adrift  when  Albany  surrendered  to  the 
French.     Not  twenty  were  ever  heard  of  again. 

Notes  on  Chapter  XII. — The  contents  of  this  chapter  are  drawn 
from  the  documents  of  Hudson's  Bay  House,  London,  and  the 
State  Papers  of  the  Marine,  Paris,  for  1685-87.  It  is  remark- 
able how  completely  the  State  papers  of  the  two  hostile  parties 
agree.  Those  in  H.  B.  C.  House  are  the  Minutes,  Governor 
Sargeant's  affidavit,  Bridgar's  report.  Outlaw's  oath  and  the 
petition  of  the  survivors  of  Outlaw's  crew — namely,  John 
Jarrett,  John  Howard,  John  Parsons,  William  Gray,  Edmund 
Clough,  Thomas  Rawlin,  G.  B.  Barlow,  Thomas  Lyon.  As  the 
raids  now  became  an  international  matter,  duplicates  of  most  of 
these  papers  are  to  be  found  in  the  Public  Records  Oflice,  Lon- 
don.    All  French  historians  give  some  account  of  this  raid  of 

226 


Le  Moyne  d'lherville  Sweeps  the  Bay 


Iberville's;  but  all  are  drawn  from  the  same  source,  the  account 
of  the  Jesuit  Sylvie,  or  from  one  De  Lery,  who  was  supposed 
to  have  been  present.  Oldmixon,  the  old  English  chronicler, 
must  have  had  access  to  Sargeant's  papers,  as  he  relates  some 
details  only  to  be  found  in  Hudson's  Bay  House. 


227 


CHAPTER  XIII 

I 686-1 69 7 
d'ibervILLE    sweeps    the    bay  (Continued) 

THE  French  were  now  in  complete  possession 
of  the  south  end  of  Hudson  Bay.  Iber- 
ville's brother,  Maricourt,  with  a  handful 
of  men  remained  at  Albany  to  guard  the  captured 
forts.  Some  of  the  English,  who  had  taken  to  the 
woods  in  flight,  now  found  the  way  to  Severn  River, 
half-way  north  between  Albany  and  Nelson,  where 
they  hastily  rushed  up  rude  winter  quarters  and 
boldly  did  their  best  to  keep  the  Indians  from  com- 
municating with  the  French.  Among  the  refugees 
was  Chouart  Groseillers,  who  became  one  of  the 
chief  advisers  at  Nelson.  Two  of  his  comrades  had 
promptly  deserted  to  the  French  side.  For  ten 
years,  Hudson  Bay  became  the  theater  of  such  esca- 
pades as  buccaneers  might  have  enacted  on  the 
Spanish  Main.  England  and  France  were  at  peace. 
A  Treaty  of  Neutrality,  in  1686,  had  provided  that 
the  bay  should  be  held  in  common  by  the  fur  traders 

228 


Le  Moyne  d' Iberville  Sweeps  the  Bay 


of  both  countries,  but  the  Company  of  the  North  in 
Quebec  and  the  EngHsh  Adventurers  of  London  had 
no  notion  of  leaving  their  rights  in  such  an  ambigu- 
ous position.  Both  fitted  out  their  raiders  to  fight 
the  quarrel  to  the  end,  and  in  spite  of  the  Treaty 
of  Neutrality,  the  King  of  France  issued  secret  in- 
structions to  the  bush-rovers  of  Quebec  "to  leave  0} 
the  English  forts  on  the  Northern  Bay,  7wt  a  vestige 
standing^  If  the  bay  were  to  be  held  in  common, 
and  the  English  abandoned  it,  all  rights  would  revert 
to  France. 

The  year  1687  saw  the  tireless  Iberville  back  at 
Rupert  River.  The  Hudson's  Bay  sloop.  The 
Youngs  had  come  to  port.  Iberville  seized  it  with- 
out any  ado  and  sent  four  spies  over  to  Charlton 
Island  where  The  Churchill,  under  Captain  Bond, 
was  wintering.  Three  of  the  French  spies  were 
summarily  captured  by  the  English  fur  traders  and 
thrown  into  the  hold  of  the  ship,  manacled,  for  the 
winter.  In  spring,  one  was  brought  above  decks  to 
give  the  English  sailors  a  helping  hand.  The  fellow 
waited  till  six  of  the  crew  were  up  the  ratlines,  then 
he  seized  an  axe,  tip-toed  up  behind  two  English- 
men, brained  them  on  the  spot,  rushing  down  the 
hatchway  liberated  his  two  comrades,  took  possession 
of  all  firearms  and  at  pistol  point  kept  the  English- 
men up  the  mast  poles  till  he  steered  the  vessel  across 

229 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


to  Iberville  at  Rupert  River,  where  a  cargo  of  pro- 
visions saved  the  French  from  famine. 

It  was  in  vain  that  the  English  sent  rescue  parties 
south  from  Nelson  and  Severn  to  recapture  Albany. 
Captain  Moon  had  come  dovm  from  Nelson  with 
twenty-four  men  to  Albany,  reinforced  by  the  crews 
of  the  two  ships,  Hampshire  and  North-West  Fox, 
when  Iberville  came  canoeing  across  the  ice  floes 
with  his  Indian  bandits.  The  English  ships  were 
locked  in  the  ice  before  the  besieged  fort.  Iber- 
ville ambushed  his  men  in  the  tamarack  swamps  till 
eighty-two  English  had  landed.  Then,  he  rushed 
the  deserted  vessels,  took  possession  of  one  with  its 
cargo  of  furs,  and  as  the  ice  cleared  sailed  gayly  out 
of  Albany  for  Quebec.  The  astounded  English  set 
fire  to  the  other  ship  and  retreated  overland  to 
Severn.  At  the  straits,  Iberville  ran  full-tilt  into 
the  fleet  of  incoming  English  vessels,  but  that  was 
nothing  to  disconcert  this  blockade-runner,  not 
though  the  ice  closed  round  them  all,  holding  French 
and  English  prisoners  within  gunshot  of  each  other. 
Iberville  ran  up  an  English  flag  on  his  captured 
ship  and  had  actually  signaled  the  captains  of  the 
English  frigates  to  come  across  the  ice  and  visit  him 
when  the  water  cleared,  and  away  he  sailed. 

Perhaps  success  bred  reckless  carelessness  on  the 
part  of  the  French.     From   1690  to  '93,  Iberville 

230 


Le  Moyne  d'Iberville  Sweeps  the  Bay 

was  absent  from  the  bay  on  the  border  raids  of 
Schenectady,  and  Pemaquid  in  New  England.  Mike 
Grimmington  of  The  Perpetuana  was  at  last  released 
from  captivity  in  Quebec  and  came  to  England  with 
rage  in  his  heart  and  vengeance  in  his  hands  for 
France.  It  was  now  almost  impossible  for  the  Eng- 
lish Adventurers  to  hire  captains  and  crews  for  the 
dangerous  work  of  their  trade  on  the  bay.  The  same 
pensions  paid  by  the  State  were  offered  by  the  Com- 
pany in  case  of  wounds  or  death,  and  in  addition 
a  bonus  of  twenty  shillings  a  month  was  guaranteed 
to  the  sailors,  of  from  £50  to  £200  a  year  to  the 
captains.  A  present  of  ;^io  plate  was  given  to 
Grimmington  for  his  bravery  and  he  was  appointed 
captain.  Coming  out  to  Nelson  in  '93,  Grimming- 
ton determined  to  capture  back  Albany  for  the 
English.  Three  ships  sailed  down  to  Albany  from 
Nelson.  The  fort  looked  deserted.  Led  by  Grim- 
mington, the  sailors  hacked  open  the  gates.  Only 
four  Frenchmen  were  holding  the  fort.  The  rest  of 
the  garrison  were  off  hunting  in  the  woods,  and  in 
the  woods  they  were  forced  to  remain  that  winter; 
for  Grimmington  ransacked  the  fort,  took  possession 
and  clapped  the  French  under  Mons.  Captain  Le 
Meux,  prisoners  in  the  hold  of  his  vessel.  With 
Grimmington  on  this  raid  was  his  old  mate  in  cap- 
tivity—Smithsend.    Albany  was  the  largest  fort  on 

231 


The  Conquest  of  tlie  Great  Northwest 

the  bay  at  this  time.  As  the  two  English  captains 
searched  the  cellars  they  came  on  a  ghastly  sight — 
naked,  covered  with  vermin,  shackled  hands  to  feet 
and  chained  to  the  wall  was  a  French  criminal,  who 
had  murdered  first  the  surgeon,  then  the  priest  of 
the  fort.  He,  too,  was  turned  adrift  in  the  woods 
with  the  rest  of  the  garrison. 

Mons.  Le  Meux,  carried  to  England  captive,  is 
examined  by  the  English  Adventurers.  From  his 
account,  all  the  French  garrisons  are  small  and 
France  holds  but  lightly  what  she  has  captured  so 
easily.  Captain  Grimmington  is  given  a  tankard 
worth  £T)6  for  his  distinguished  services.  Captain 
Edgecombe  of  The  Royal  Hudsori's  Bay,  who,  in 
spite  of  the  war,  has  brought  home  a  cargo  of  twenty- 
two  thousand  beaver,  is  given  plate  to  the  value  of 
;,^2o  as  well  as  a  gratuity  of  £ioo.  Captain  Ford, 
who  was  carried  prisoner  to  France  by  Iberville, 
is  ransomed,  and  The  Hampshire  vessel  put  up  at 
auction  in  France  is  bid  in  by  secret  agents  of  the 
English  company.  Chouart  Groseillers  is  wel- 
comed home  to  London,  and  given  a  present  of  ;^ioo 
and  allowed  to  take  a  graceful  farewell  of  the  Com- 
pany, as  are  all  its  French  servants.  The  Company 
wants  no  French  servants  on  the  bay  just  now — not 
even  Radisson  to  whom  Mons.  Pere,  now  escaped 

232 


Le  Moyne  d' Iberville  ISiveep.s  ike  Bay 

to  France,  writes  tempting  offers.  Sargeant,  who 
lost  Albany  in  1686,  is  first  sued  for  ;,^2o,ooo  damages 
for  surrendering  the  fort  so  easily,  and  is  then  re- 
warded £350  for  holding  it  so  bravely.  Phipps  has 
refused  point-blank  to  serve  as  governor  any  longer 
at  so  dangerous  a  point  as  Nelson  for  so  small  a 
salary  as  ;^2oo  a  year.  Phipps  comes  home.  Abra- 
ham tries  it  for  a  year.  Pie,  too,  loses  relish  for  the 
danger  spot,  and  Walsh  goes  to  Nelson  as  governor 
with  the  apprentice  boy  Henry  Kelsey,  risen  to  be 
first  lieutenant.  In  spite  of  wars  and  raids  and  am- 
buscades, there  is  a  dividend  of  50  per  cent,  in  '88, 
(the  King  refusing  to  receive  it  personally  as  it  might 
prejudice  him  with  France)  and  of  50  per  cent,  in  '89, 
and  of  25  per  cent,  in  '90  on  stock  which  had  been 
trebled,  which  was  equivalent  to  75  per  cent,  divi- 
dends; and  there  are  put  on  record  in  the  Company's 
minutes  these  sentiments:  '^ being  thoroughly  sen- 
sible of  the  great  blessing  it  has  pleased  Almighty 
God  to  give  the  company  by  the  arrival  of  the  ship  pes, 
the  compy  doo  thinke  fitt  to  show  some  testimony  oj 
their  Humble  thankfulness  for  Gods  so  great  a  mercy 
and  doo  now  unanimously  resolve  that  the  sum  oj 
£100  bee  sett  aparte  as  charity  money  to  be  distributed 
amongst  such  persons  as  shall  dye  or  be  wounded  in 
the  companies''  service,  their  widows  or  children  df 
the  secretary  is  to  keep  a  particular  account  in  the 

233 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

company s  books  for  the  future ^  Stock  forfeited  for 
the  breaking  of  rules  is  also  to  go  to  wounded  men 
and  widows. 

And  the  Company  is  equally  generous  to  itself; 
no  shilling  pay  for  committeemen  now  but  a  salary 
of  £300  a  year  to  each  committeeman  of  the  weekly 
meetings  on  the  Company's  business. 

The  upshot  of  the  frequent  meetings  and  increas- 
ing dividends  was — the  Company  resolved  on  a  des- 
perate effort  to  recapture  the  lost  forts.  The  Eng- 
lish now  held — Nelson,  the  great  fur  emporium  of 
the  North;  New  Severn  to  the  South,  which  had  been 
built  by  refugees  from  Albany,  burnt  twice  to  escape 
bush-raiders  and  as  promptly  rebuilt  when  the  French 
withdrew;  and  Albany,  itself,  which  Mike  Grim- 
mington  had  captured  back. 

The  French  held  Moose  and  Rupert  on  the  south 
of  the  bay. 

James  Knight,  who  had  acted  variously  as  appren- 
tice, trader  and  captain  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Company — was  now  appointed  commander  of  the 
south  end  of  the  bay,  with  headquarters  at  Albany, 
at  a  salary  of  ;i{^4oo  a  year.  Here,  he  was  to  resist 
the  French  and  keep  them  from  advancing  north  to 
Nelson.  New  Severn,  next  north,  was  still  to  serve 
as  a  refuge  in  case  of  attack.  At  Nelson,  in  addition 
to  Walsh,  Bailey — a  new  man — Geyer,  a  captain, 

234 


v/v 

Vl<:JkQevtin-ru.-i.  rf  Ifn^'t'^-.l  /■  .- 
Sfihf^^  J^K^C^f,,^,,  /aft. 

-2      cl.  . 


.  ^         '     a,  ■      '^  I '      'ami  a 


r         .■r\:^,^i,:c     /.'.-Uu^,  /^f<'-.^-,  . 
/ 

Terms  of  surrender  between  Le  Moyne  d' Iberville  and  C.o\  crnor 
Walsh  at  York  Fort.  These  terms,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
averred  in  petitions,  were  grossly  violated  by  the  French.  Original 
in  the  H.  B.  C.  Memorial  Books  transferred  to  Public  Records. 


Le  Moyne  d'Iberville  Sweeps  the  Bay 

and  Kclsey  were  to  have  command  as  officers.  Three 
frigates — The  Dering,  The  Hudson'' s  Bay  and  The 
Hampshire  are  commissioned  tp  the  bay  with  letters 
of  marque  to  war  on  all  enemies,  and  three  merchant- 
men— The  Prosperous,  The  Owners  Love  and  The 
Perry  are  also  to  go  to  the  bay.  Mutinous  of  voy- 
ages to  the  bay,  seamen  are  paid  in  advance,  and 
two  hundred  and  twenty  gallons  of  brandy  are 
divided  among  the  ships  to  warm  up  courage  as 
occasion  may  require. 

But  Iberville  was  not  the  man  to  let  his  win- 
nings slip  through  his  fingers.  It  had  now  become 
more  than  a  guerrilla  warfare  between  gamesters  of 
the  wilderness.  It  was  a  fight  for  ascendency  on  the 
continent.  It  was  a  struggle  to  determine  which 
nation  was  to  command  the  rivers  leading  inland  to 
the  unknown  West.  If  the  French  raiders  were  to 
hold  the  forts  at  the  bottom  of  the  bay,  they  must 
capture  the  great  stronghold  of  the  English — Nelson. 

Taking  on  board  one  hundred  and  twenty 
woodrangers,  Iberville  sailed  from  Quebec  on 
August  lo,  1694.  He  had  two  frigates— r/re  Poll 
and  Salamander.  By  Septem.ber  24,  he  was  unload- 
ing his  cannon  below  the  earthworks  of  one  hundred 
great  guns  at  Nelson.  Steady  bombardment  from 
his    frigates    poured    bombs   into   the    fort    from 

235 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

September  25  to  October  14,  and  without  ceasing, 
the  fort  guns  sent  back  a  rain  of  fire  and  ball. 
Chateauguay,  Iberville's  brother,  landed  to  attempt 
a  rush  with  his  bush-rovers  by  the  rear.  He  was 
met  at  the  pickets  by  a  spattering  fire  and  fell 
shot  as  other  brave  sons  of  the  Le  Moyne  family  fell 
— wounded  in  front,  shouting  a  rally  with  his  dying 
breath.  The  death  of  their  comrade  redoubled  the 
fury  of  the  raiders.  While  long-range  guns  tore  up 
the  earthworks  and  cut  great  gashes  in  the  shattered 
palisades  to  the  fore,  the  bushrangers  behind  had 
knocked  down  pickets  and  were  in  a  hand-to-hand 
fight  in  the  ditch  that  separated  the  rows  of  double 
palisades.  In  the  hope  of  saving  their  furs,  Walsh 
and  Kelsey  hung  out  a  tablecloth  as  flag  of  truce. 
For  a  day,  the  parley  lasted,  the  men  inside  the 
pickets  seizing  the  opportunity  to  eat  and  rest,  and 
spill  all  liquor  on  the  ground  and  bury  ammunition 
and  hide  personal  treasures.  The  weather  had 
turned  bitterly  cold.  Winter  was  impending.  No 
help  could  come  from  England  till  the  following  July. 
Walsh  did  his  best  in  a  bad  bargain,  asking  that  the 
officers  be  lodged  till  the  ships  came  the  next  year, 
that  the  English  be  allowed  the  same  provisions  as 
the  French,  that  no  injury  be  offered  the  English 
traders  during  the  winter,  and  that  they  should  be 
allowed  to  keep  the  Company's  books. 

236 


Le  Moyne  (T Iberville  Sweeps  the  Bay 

Iberville  was  depending  on  loot  to  pay  his  men, 
and  would  not  hear  of  granting  the  furs  to  the  Eng- 
lish, but  he  readily  subscribed  to  the  other  condi- 
tions of  surrender,  and  took  possession  of  the  fort. 
When  Iberville  hastily  sailed  away  to  escape 
through  the  straits  before  winter  closed  them,  he 
left  De  la  Forest  commander  at  Nelson,  Jeremie, 
interpreter.  And  De  la  Forest  quickly  ignored  the 
conditions  of  surrender.  He  was  not  a  good  man 
to  be  left  in  charge.  He  was  one  of  those  who  had 
outfitted  Radisson  in  '83  and  lost  when  Radisson 
turned  Nelson  over  to  the  English  in  '84.  Early 
next  year,  the  English  ships  would  come.  If  De 
la  Forest  could  but  torture  some  of  the  English 
officers,  who  were  his  prisoners,  into  betraying  the 
secret  signals  of  the  ships,  he  might  lure  them  into 
port  and  recoup  himself  for  that  loss  of  ten  years 
ago.  Only  four  officers  were  kept  in  the  fort.  The 
rest  of  the  fifty-three  prisoners  were  harried  and 
abused  so  that  they  were  glad  to  flee  to  the  woods. 
Beds,  clothes,  guns  and  ammunition— everything, 
was  taken  from  them.  Eight  or  ten,  who  hung 
round  the  fort,  were  treated  as  slaves.  One  Eng- 
lishman was  tied  to  a  stake  and  tortured  with  hot 
irons  to  compel  him  to  tell  the  signals  of  the  English 
ships.  But  the  secret  was  not  told.  No  English 
ships  anchored  at  Port  Nelson  in  the  summer  of  '95. 

237 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

The  sail  that  hove  on  the  offing  was  a  French 
privateer.  In  the  hold  of  this,  the  English  survivors 
were  huddled  like  beasts,  fed  on  pease  and  dogs' 
meat.  The  ship  leaked,  and  when  the  water  rose 
to  mid-waist  of  the  prisoners,  they  were  not  allowed 
to  come  above  decks,  but  set  to  pumping  the  water 
out.  On  the  chance  of  ransom  money,  the  privateer 
carried  the  prisoners  in  irons  to  France  because — as 
one  of  the  sufferers  afterward  took  oath — '^we  had 
not  the  money  to  grease  the  commander^s  fist  for  our 
jreedomy  Of  the  fifty-three  Hudson's  Bay  men 
turned  adrift  from  Nelson,  only  twenty-five  survived 
the  winter. 

So  the  merry  game  went  on  between  the  rival 
traders  of  the  North,  French  and  English  fighting 
as  furiously  for  a  beaver  pelt  as  the  Spanish  fought 
for  gold.  The  English  Adventurers'  big  resolutions 
to  capture  back  the  bay  had  ended  in  smoke.  They 
had  lost  Nelson  and  now  possessed  only  one  fort  on 
the  bay — Albany,  under  Governor  Knight;  but  one 
thing  now  favored  the  English.  Open  war  had 
taken  the  place  of  secret  treaty  between  France  and 
England.  The  Company  applied  to  the  government 
for  protection.  The  English  Admiralty  granted  two 
men-of-war,  The  Bonaventure  and  Seajorth,  under 
Captain  Allen.  These  accompanied  Grimmington 
and  Smithsend  to  Nelson  in  '96,  so  when  Iberville's 

238 


Le  Moyne  d'lberville  Sweeps  the  Bay 

brother,  Serigny,  came  out  from  France  with  pro- 
visions on  The  Poll  and  Hardi  for  the  French  garri- 
sons at  Nelson,  he  found  EngUsh  men-of-war  lined 
up  for  attack  in  front  of  the  fort.  Serigny  didn't 
wait.  He  turned  swift  heel  for  the  sea,  so  swift, 
indeed,  that  The  Hardi  split  on  an  ice  floe  and  went 
to  the  bottom  with  all  hands.  On  August  26, 
Captain  Allen  of  the  Royal  Navy,  demanded  the 
surrender  of  Nelson  from  Governor  De  la  Forest. 
Without  either  provision  or  powder.  La  Forest  had 
no  choice  but  to  capitulate.  In  the  fort,  Allen  seized 
twenty  thousand  beaver  pelts. 

Nelson  or  York — as  it  is  now  known — consisted 
under  the  French  rule  of  a  large  square  house,  with 
lead  roof  and  limestone  walls.  There  were  four 
bastions  to  the  courtyard — one  for  the  garrisons* 
lodgings,  one  for  trade,  one  for  powder,  one  for 
provisions.  All  the  buildings  were  painted  red. 
Double  palisades  with  a  trench  between  enclosed 
the  yard.  There  were  two  large  gates,  one  to  the 
waterside,  one  inland,  paneled  in  iron  with  huge, 
metal  hinges  showing  the  knobs  of  big  nail  heads.  A 
gallery  ran  round  the  roof  of  the  main  house,  and  on 
this  were  placed  five  cannon.  Three  cannon  were 
also  mounted  in  each  bastion.  The  officers'  mess 
room  boasted  a  huge  iron  hearth,  oval  tables,  wall 
cupboards,  and  beds  that  shut  up  in  the  wall-panels. 

239 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Captain  Allen  now  retaliated  on  the  French  for 
their  cruelty  to  English  captives  by  taking  the  entire 
garrison  prisoners.  Loaded  with  furs  to  the  water- 
line,  the  English  ships  left  Bailey  and  Kelsey  at 
Nelson  and  sailed  slowly  for  England.  Just  at  the 
entrance  to  the  straits — the  place  already  made  so 
famous  by  Indian  attack  on  Hudson's  crew,  and 
French  raid  on  The  Perpetuana,  a  swift-sailing  French 
privateer  bore  down  on  the  fleet,  singled  out  Allen's 
ship  which  was  separated  from  the  other,  poured 
a  volley  of  shot  across  her  decks  which  killed  Allen 
on  the  spot,  and  took  to  flight  before  the  other  ship 
could  come  to  the  rescue.  Was  this  Iberville's 
brother — Serigny — on  his  way  home?  It  will  never 
be  known,  for  as  the  ships  made  no  capture,  the 
action  is  not  reported  in  French  records. 

The  war  had  reduced  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
to  such  straits  that  several  of  the  directors  had  gone 
bankrupt  advancing  money  to  keep  the  ships  sailing. 
No  more  money  could  be  borrowed  in  England, 
and  agents  were  trying  to  raise  funds  in  Amsterdam. 
Nevertheless,  the  Company  presented  the  captains — 
Smithsend  and  Grimmington — with  ;;^too  each  for 
capturing  York.  The  captured  furs  replenished  the 
exhausted  finances  and  preparation  was  made  to 
dispatch  a  mighty  fleet  that  would  forever  settle 
mastery  of  the  bay. 

240 


Le  Moyne  d'lberville  Swccp,s  tlic  Bay 

Two  hundred  extra  mariners  were  to  be  engaged. 
On  The  Bering,  Grimmington,  now  a  veteran  cam- 
paigner, was  to  take  sixty  fighting  men.  Captain 
Moon  was  to  have  eighteen  on  the  Httle  frigate, 
Perry.  Edgecombe's  Hudson's  Bay,  frigate,  was  to 
have  fifty-five;  Captain  Fletcher's  Hampshire,  sixty; 
the  fire  ship  Prosperous  another  thirty  under  a  new 
man,  Captain  Batty.  These  mariners  were  in  addi- 
tion to  the  usual  seamen  and  company  servants. 
On  The  Hudson's  Bay  also  went  Smithsend  as 
adviser  in  the  campaign.  Every  penny  that  could 
be  raised  on  sales  of  beaver,  all  that  the  directors 
were  able  to  pledge  of  their  private  fortunes,  and 
all  the  money  that  could  be  borrowed  by  the  Adven- 
turers as  a  corporate  company,  went  to  outfit  the 
vessels  for  what  was  to  be  the  deciding  campaign. 
With  Bailey  in  control  at  Nelson  and  old  Governor 
Knight  down  at  Albany — surely  the  French  could  be 
driven  completely  from  the  bay. 

Those  captives  that  Allen's  ship  had  brought  to 
England,  lay  in  prison  five  months  at  Portsmouth 
before  they  were  set  free.  Released  at  last,  they 
hastened  to  France  where  their  emaciated,  ragged 
condition  spoke  louder  than  their  indignant  words. 
Frenchmen  languishing  in  English  prison!  Like 
wildfire  ran  the  rumor  of  the  outrage!    Once  before 

241 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

when  Pere,  the  Frenchman,  had  been  imprisoned  on 
Hudson  Bay,  Iberville  had  thrust  the  sword  of 
vengeance  into  the  very  heart  of  the  English  fastness. 
France  turned  again  to  the  same  Robin  Hood  of 
Canada's  rude  chivalry.  Iberville  was  at  this  time 
carrying  havoc  from  hamlet  to  hamlet  of  Newfound- 
land, where  two  hundred  English  had  already  fallen 
before  his  sword  and  seven  hundred  been  captured. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  1697,  Serigny,  his  brother, 
just  home  from  Nelson,  was  dispatched  from  France 
with  five  men-of-war — The  Pelican,  The  Palmier^ 
The  Profound,  The  Violent,  The  Wasp — to  be  placed 
under  Iberville's  command  at  Palcentia,  New- 
foundland, whence  he  was  to  proceed  to  Hudson 
Bay  with  orders,  "to  leave  not  a  vestige  remaining" 
of  the  English  fur  trade  in  the  North. 

The  squadron  left  Newfoundland  on  July  8. 
By  the  25th,  the  ships  had  entered  the  straits  amid 
berg  and  floe,  with  the  long,  transparent  daylight, 
when  sunset  merges  with  sunrise.  Iberville  was 
on  The  Pelican  with  Bienville,  his  brother,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men  and  fifty  guns.  The  other 
brother,  Serigny,  commanded  The  Palmier,  and  Ed- 
ward Fitzmaurice  of  Kerry,  a  Jacobite,  had  come 
as  chaplain.  A  gun  gone  loose  in  the  hold  of  The 
Wasp,  created  a  panic  during  the  heavy  seas  of  the 
Upper  Narrows  in  the  straits — the  huge  implement 

242 


Le  Moyne  d' Iberville  Sweeps  the  Bay 

of  terror  rolling  from  side  to  side  of  the  dark  hold 
with  each  wash  of  the  billows  in  a  way  that  threat- 
ened to  capsize  the  vessel — not  a  man  daring  to  risk 
his  life  to  stop  the  cannon's  roll ;  and  several  gunners 
were  crushed  to  death  before  The  Wasp  could  come 
to  anchor  in  a  quiet  harbor  to  mend  the  damage. 
On  The  Pelican,  Iberville's  ship,  forty  men  lay 
in  their  berths  ill  of  scurvy.  The  fleet  was  stopped 
by  ice  at  Digges'  Island  at  the  west  end  of  the  straits 
— a  place  already  famous  in  the  raiders'  history. 
Here,  the  icepans,  contracted  by  the  straits,  locked 
around  the  vessels  in  iron  grip.  Fog  fell  concealing 
the  ships  from  one  another,  except  for  the  ensigns 
at  the  mastheads,  which  showed  all  the  fleet  anchored 
southward  except  Iberville's  Pelican.  For  eighteen 
days  the  impatient  raider  found  himself  forcibly 
gripped  to  the  ice  floes  in  fog,  his  ship  crushed  and 
banged  and  bodily  lifted  until  a  powder  blast  re- 
lieved pressure,  or  holes  drilled  and  filled  with  bombs 
broke  the  ice  crush,  or  unshipping  the  rudder,  his 
own  men  disembarked  and  up  to  the  waist  in  ice 
slush  towed  The  Pelican  forward. 

On  the  25th  of  August  at  four  in  the  morning,  the 
fog  suddenly  lifted.  Iberville  saw  that  The 
Palmier  had  been  carried  back  in  the  straits.  The 
Wasp  and  Violent  had  disappeared,  but  straight  to 
the   fore,  ice-jammed,  were    The   Profound,  and — 

243 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Iberville  could  scarcely  believe  the  evidence  of 
his  eyes — three  English  men-of-war,  The  Hamp- 
shire, and  Dering,  and  Hudsoii's  Bay  closing  in  a 
circle  round  the  ill-fated  and  imprisoned  French 
ship.  Just  at  that  moment,  the  ice  loosened.  Iber- 
ville was  off  like  a  bird  in  The  Pelican,  not  waiting  to 
see  what  became  of  The  Profound,  which  escaped 
from  the  ice  that  night  after  a  day's  bombardment 
when  the  English  were  in  the  act  of  running  across 
the  ice  for  a  hand-to-hand  fight. 

On  the  3rd  of  September,  Iberville  anchored 
before  Port  Nelson.  Anxiously,  for  two  days,  he 
scanned  the  sea  for  the  rest  of  his  fleet.  On  the 
morning  of  the  fifth,  the  peaked  sails  of  three  vessels 
rose  above  the  ofling.  Raising  anchor,  Iberville 
hastened  out  to  meet  them,  and  signaled  a  welcome. 
No  response  signaled  back.  The  horrified  watch 
at  the  masthead  called  down  some  warning.  Then 
the  full  extent  of  the  terrible  mistake  dawned  on 
Iberville.  These  were  not  his  consort  ships  at 
all.  They  were  the  English  men-of-war,  The  Hamp- 
shire, Captain  Fletcher,  fifty-two  guns  and  sixty 
soldiers;  The  Dering,  Captain  Grimmington,  thirty 
guns  and  sixty  men ;  The  Hudson's  Bay,  Edgecombe 
and  Smithsend,  thirty-two  guns  and  fifty-five  men — 
hemming  him  in  a  fatal  circle  between  the  English 
fort  on  the  land  and  their  own  cannon  to  sea. 

244 


Le  Moyne  d'lberville  Sweeps  the  Bay 

One  can  guess  the  wild  whoop  of  jubilation  that 
went  up  from  the  Englishmen  to  see  their  enemy  of 
ten  years'  merciless  raids,  now  hopelessly  trapped 
between  their  fleet  and  the  fort.  The  English  ves- 
sels had  the  wind  in  their  favor  and  raced  over  the 
waves  all  sails  set  like  a  war  troop  keen  for  prey. 
Iberville  didn't  wait.  He  had  weighed  anchor  to 
sail  out  when  he  thought  the  vessels  were  his  own, 
and  now  he  kept  unswervingly  on  his  course.  Of 
his  original  crew,  forty  were  invalided.  Some 
twenty-five  had  been  sent  ashore  to  reconnoiter  the 
fort.  Counting  the  Canadians  and  Indians  taken  on 
at  Newfoundland,  he  could  muster  only  one  hundred 
and  fifty  fighting  men.  Quickly,  ropes  were  stretched 
to  give  the  mariners  hand-hold  over  the  frost-slippery 
decks.  Stoppers  were  ripped  from  the  fifty  cannon, 
and  the  batterymen  below,  under  La  Salle  and 
Grandville,  had  stripped  naked  in  preparation  for 
the  hell  of  flame  and  heat  that  was  to  be  their  portion 
in  the  impending  battle.  Bienville,  Iberville's 
brother,  swung  the  infantrymen  in  line  above  decks, 
swords  and  pistols  prepared  for  the  hand-to-hand 
grapple.  De  la  Potherie  got  the  Canadians  to  the 
forecastle,  knives  and  war  hatchets  out,  bodies 
stripped,  all  ready  to  board  when  the  ships  knocked 
keels.  Iberville  knew  it  was  to  be  like  those  old- 
time  raids — a  Spartan  conflict — a  fight  to  the  death ; 

245 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

death  or  victory;  and  he  swept  right  up  to  The 
Hampshire,  Fletcher's  frigate,  the  strongest  of  the 
foe,  where  every  shot  would  tell.  The  Hampshire 
shifted  broadsides  to  the  French;  and  at  nine  in  the 
morning,  the  battle  began. 

The  Hampshire  let  fly  two  roaring  cannonades 
that  ploughed  up  the  decks  of  The  Pelican  and 
stripped  the  French  bare  of  masts  to  the  hull.  At  the 
same  instant,  Grimmington's  Bering  and  Smith- 
send's  Hudson'' s  Bay  circled  to  the  left  of  the  French 
and  poured  a  stream  of  musketry  fire  across  The 
Pelican^ s  stern.  At  one  fell  blast,  forty  French  were 
mowed  down;  but  the  batterymen  below  never  ceased 
their  crash  of  bombs  straight  into  The  Hampshire's 
hull. 

Iberville  shouted  for  the  infantrymen  to  fire  into 
The  Bering's  forecastle,  to  pick  off  Grimmington 
if  they  could ;  and  for  the  Canadian  sharpshooters  to 
rake  the  decks  of  The  Hudson^s  Bay. 

For  four  hours,  the  three-cornered  battle  raged. 
The  ships  were  so  close,  shout  and  counter-shout 
could  be  heard  across  decks.  Faces  were  singed 
with  the  closeness  of  the  musketry  fire.  Ninety 
French  had  been  wounded.  The  Pelican'' s  decks 
swam  in  blood  that  froze  to  ice,  slippery  as  glass,  and 
trickled  down  the  clinker  boards  in  reddening 
splashes.     Grape  shot  and  grenade  had  set  the  fallen 

246 


Le  Moyne  d'lberville  Sweeps  the  Bay 

sails  on  fire.  Sails  and  mastpoles  and  splintered 
davits  were  a  mass  of  roaring  flame  that  would 
presently  extend  to  the  powder  magazines  and  blow 
all  to  eternity.  Railings  had  gone  over  decks;  and 
when  the  ship  rolled,  only  the  tangle  of  burning 
debris  kept  those  on  deck  from  washing  into  the  sea. 
The  bridge  was  crumbling.  A  shot  had  torn  the 
high  prow  away;  and  still  the  batterymen  below 
poured  their  storm  of  fire  and  bomb  into  the  English 
hull.  The  fighters  were  so  close,  one  old  record 
says,  and  the  holes  torn  by  the  bombs  so  large  in  the 
hull  of  each  ship  that  the  gunners  on  The  Pelican 
were  looking  into  the  eyes  of  the  smoke-grimed 
men  below  the  decks  of  The  Hampshire. 

For  three  hours,  the  English  had  tacked  to  board 
The  Pelican,  and  for  three  hours  the  mastless, 
splintered  Pelican  had  fought  like  a  demon  to  cripple 
her  enemy's  approach.  The  blood-grimed,  half- 
naked  men  of  both  decks  had  rushed  en  masse  for  the 
last  leap,  the  hand-to-hand  fight,  when  a  frantic 
shout  went  up! 

Then  silence,  and  fearful  confusion,  and  a  mad 
panic  back  from  the  tilting  edges  of  the  two  vessels 
with  cries  from  the  wounded  above  the  shriek  of  the 
sea! 

The  batteries  of  The  Hampshire  had  suddenly 
silenced.     The  great  ship  refused  to  answer  to  the 

247 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

wheel.  That  persistent,  undeviating  fire  bursting 
from  the  sides  of  The  Pelican  had  done  its  work. 
The  Hampshire  gave  a  quick,  back  lurch.  Before 
the  amazed  Frenchmen  could  believe  their  senses, 
amid  the  roar  of  flame  and  crashing  billows  and  hiss 
of  fires  extinguished  in  an  angry  sea.  The  Hampshire, 
all  sails  set,  settled  and  sank  like  a  stone  amid  the 
engulfing  billows.  Not  a  soul  of  her  two  hundred 
and  fifty  men — one  hundred  and  ninety  mariners 
and  servants,  with  sixty  soldiers — escaped. 

The  screams  of  the  struggling  seamen  had  not  died 
on  the  waves  before  Iberville  had  turned  the  bat- 
teries of  his  shattered  ship  full  force  on  Smithsend's 
Hudson'' s  Bay.  Promptly,  The  Hudson'' s  Bay  struck 
colors,  but  while  Iberville  was  engaged  boarding 
his  captive  and  taking  over  ninety  prisoners,  Grim- 
mington  on  The  Dering  showed  swift  heel  and 
gained  refuge  in  Fort  Nelson. 

In  the  fury  and  heat  of  the  fight,  the  French  had 
not  noticed  the  gathering  storm  that  now  broke  with 
hurricane  gusts  of  sleet  and  rain.  The  whistling  in 
the  cordage  became  a  shrill  shriek — warning  a  bliz- 
zard. Presently  the  billows  were  washing  over  decks 
with  nothing  visible  of  the  wheel  but  the  drenched 
helmsman  clinging  for  life  to  his  place.  The  pan- 
cake ice  pounded  the  ships'  sides  with  a  noise  of 

248 


Le  Moyne  d'Iberville  Sweeps  tlce  Bay 

thunder.  Mist  and  darkness  and  roaring  sleet 
drowned  the  death  cries  of  the  wounded,  washed  and 
tossed  and  jammed  against  the  raiHng  by  the  pound- 
ing seas.  The  Pelican  could  only  drive  through  the 
darkness  before  the  storm-flaw,  "the  dead"  says  an 
old  record,  ''floating  about  on  the  decks  among  the 
living."  The  hawser,  that  had  towed  the  captive 
ship,  snapped  like  thread.  Captor  and  captive  in 
vain  threw  out  anchors.  The  anchors  raked  bottom. 
Cables  were  cut,  and  the  two  ships  drove  along  the 
sands.  The  deck  of  The  Pelican  was  icy  with  blood. 
Every  shock  of  smashing  billows  jumbled  dead  and 
dying  en  masse.  The  night  grew  black  as  pitch. 
The  little  railing  that  still  clung  to  the  shattered  decks 
of  The  Pelican  was  now  washed  away,  and  the  waves 
carried  off  dead  and  wounded.  Tables  were  hurled 
from  the  cabin.  The  rudder  was  broken,  and  the 
water  was  already  to  the  bridge  of  the  foundering 
ship,  when  the  hull  began  to  split,  and  The  Pelican 
buried  her  prow  in  the  sands,  six  miles  from  the  fort. 
All  small  boats  had  been  shot  away.  The  canoes 
of  the  Canadians  swamped  in  the  heavy  sea  as  they 
were  launched.  Tying  the  spars  of  the  shattered 
masts  in  four-sided  racks,  Iberville  had  the  sur- 
viving wounded  bound  to  these  and  towed  ashore  by 
the  others,  half-swimming,  half-wading.  Many  of 
the  men  sprang  into  the  icy  sea  bare  to  mid-waist  as 

249 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

they  had  fought.  Guns  and  powderhorns  carried 
ashore  in  the  swimmers'  teeth  were  all  that  were 
saved  of  the  wreck.  Eighteen  more  men  lost  their 
lives  going  ashore  in  the  dark.  For  twelve  hours 
they  had  fought  without  pause  for  food,  and  now 
shivering  round  fires  kindled  in  the  bush,  the  half- 
famished  men  devoured  moss  and  seaweed  raw. 
Two  feet  of  snow  lay  on  the  ground,  and  when  the 
men  lighted  fires  and  gathered  round  in  groups  to 
warm  themselves,  they  became  targets  for  sharp- 
shooters from  the  fort,  who  aimed  at  the  camp  fires. 
Smithsend,  who  escaped  from  the  wrecked  Hudson'' s 
Bay  and  Grimmington,  who  had  succeeded  in  taking 
The  Dering  into  harbor — put  Governor  Bailey  on 
guard.  Their  one  hope  was  that  Iberville  might 
be  drowned. 

It  was  at  this  terrible  pass  that  the  other  ships  of 
Iberville's  fleet  came  to  the  rescue.  They,  too,  had 
suffered  from  the  storm,  The  Violent  having  gone  to 
bottom;  The  Palmier  having  lost  her  steering  gear, 
another  ship  her  rudder. 

Nelson  or  York  under  the  English  was  the  usual 
four-bastioned  fur  post,  with  palisades  and  houses  of 
white  fir  logs  a  foot  thick,  the  pickets  punctured  for 
small  arms,  with  embrasures  for  some  hundred 
cannon.  It  stood  back  from  Hayes  River,  four  miles 
up  from  the  sea.     The  seamen  of  the  wrecked  Hnd- 

250 


Le  Moyne  d'lberviUe  Sweeps  ihe  Hay 

son's  Bay  carried  word  to  Governor  Bailey  of  Iber- 
ville's desperate  plight.  Nor  was  Bailey  inclined  to 
surrender  even  after  the  other  ships  came  to  Iber- 
ville's aid.  With  Bailey  in  the  fort  were  Kelsey, 
and  both  Grimmington  and  Smithsend  who  had  once 
been  captives  with  the  French  in  Quebec.  When 
Iberville's  messenger  was  led  into  the  council  hall 
with  flag  of  truce  and  bandaged  eyes  to  demand 
surrender,  Smithsend  advised  resistance  till  the  Eng- 
lish knew  whether  Iberville  had  been  lost  in  the 
wreck.  Fog  favored  the  French.  By  the  nth,  they 
had  been  able  to  haul  their  cannon  ashore  unde- 
tected by  the  English  and  so  near  the  fort  that  the 
first  intimation  was  the  blow  of  hammers  erecting 
platforms.  This  drew  the  fire  of  the  English,  and 
the  cannonading  began  on  both  sides.  On  the  12th, 
Serigny  entered  the  council  again  to  demand  sur- 
render. 

"If  you  refuse,  there  will  be  no  quarter,"  he 
warned. 

"Quarter  be  cursed,"  thundered  the  old  governor. 
Then  turning  to  his  men,  "Forty  pounds  sterling  to 
every  man  who  fights." 

But  the  Canadians  with  all  the  savagery  of  Indian 
warfare,  had  begun  hacking  down  palisades  to  the 
rear. 

Serigny  came  once  more  from  the  French.  "They 
251 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

are  desperate,"  he  urged,  "they  must  take  the  fort, 
or  pass  the  winter  Hke  beasts  in  the  wilds."  Bombs 
had  been  shattering  the  houses.  Bailey  was  induced 
to  capitulate,  but  game  to  the  end,  haggled  for  the 
best  bargain  he  could  get.  Neither  the  furs  nor  the 
armaments  of  the  fort  were  granted  him,  but  he  was 
permitted  to  march  out  with  people  unharmed,  drums 
beating,  flags  unfurled,  ball  in  mouth,  matches 
lighted,  bag  and  baggage,  fife  screaming  its  shrillest 
defiance — to  march  out  with  all  this  brave  pomp  to 
a  desolate  winter  in  the  wilds,  while  the  bush-lopers, 
led  by  Boisbriant,  ransacked  the  fort.  In  the  sur- 
render, Grimmington  had  bargained  for  his  ship, 
and  he  now  sailed  for  England  with  the  refugees, 
reaching  the  Thames  on  October  26.  Bailey  and 
Smithsend  with  other  refugees,  resolutely  marched 
overland  in  the  teeth  of  wintry  blasts  to  Governor 
Knight  at  Albany.  How  Bailey  reached  England,  I 
do  not  know.  He  must  have  gone  overland  with 
French  coureurs  to  Quebec ;  for  he  could  not  have 
sailed  through  the  straits  after  October,  and  he  ar- 
rived in  England  by  December. 

That  the  blow  of  the  last  loss  paralyzed  the 
Company — need  not  be  told.  Of  all  their  forts  on  the 
bay,  they  now  had  only  Albany,  and  were  in  debt  for 
the  last  year's  ships.  They  had  not  money  to  pay 
the  captains'  wages.     Nevertheless,  they  borrowed 

252 


Le  Moync  crJhcrriUi'  Sweeps  ilte  lUuj 

money  enough  to  pay  the  wages  of  all  the  seamen 
and  £20  apiece  extra,  for  those  who  had  taken  part 
in  the  fight.  Just  at  this  time,  the  Treaty  of  Ryswick 
put  an  end  to  war  between  England  and  France,  but, 
as  far  as  the  Company  was  concerned,  it  left  them 
worse  than  before,  for  it  provided  that  the  con- 
testants on  the  bay  should  remain  as  they  were  at 
the  time,  which  meant  that  France  held  all  the  bay 
except  Albany.  Before  this  campaign,  the  loss  of 
the  English  Adventurers  from  the  French  raiders  had 
been  ;;^ioo,ooo.  Now  the  loss  totaled  more  than 
£200,000. 

Chouart  Groseillers  had  long  since  been  created  a 
nobleman  for  returning  to  France.  In  spite  of  the 
peace,  this  enigmatical  declaration  is  found  in  the 
private  papers  of  the  King  of  France: 

"  Owing  to  the  peace,  the  King  of  England  has  given 
positive  orders  that  goods  taken  at  Hudson  Bay,  must 
be  paid  for;  but  the  French  King  relies  on  getting  out 
of  this  affair." 

Iberville  sailed  away  to  fresh  glories.  A  seign- 
iory had  been  granted  him  along  the  Bay  of  Chal- 
eurs.  In  1699,  he  was  created  Chevalier  of  St.  Louis, 
The  rest  of  his  years  were  passed  founding  the  colony 
of  Louisiana,  and  he  visited  Boston  and  New  York 
harbors  with  plans  of  conquest  in  his  mind,  though 
as  the  Earl  of  Belomont  reported  "he  pretended  it 

253 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

was  for  wood  and  water."  In  the  war  of  the  Bar- 
badoes,  Iberville  had  hoped  to  capture  slaves  for 
Louisiana,  and  he  had  transported  hundreds,  but 
yellow  fever  raged  in  the  South  and  Iberville  fell 
a  victim  to  it  on  July  9,  1706,  at  Havana.  He  was, 
perhaps,  the  most  picturesque  type  of  Canada's 
wildwood  chivalry,  with  all  its  savage  faults  and 
romantic  heroism. 

And  His  Majesty,  the  King  of  France,  well  pleased 
with  the  success  of  his  brave  raiders  sends  out  a  dis- 
patch that  reads:  "His  Majesty  declines  to  accept 
the  white  bear  sent  to  him  from  Hudson  Bay,  but 
he  will  permit  the  fur  traders  to  exhibit  the  animal." 

Notes  on  Chapter  XIII. — The  English  side  of  the  story  related 
in  this  chapter  is  taken  from  the  records  of  Hudson's  Bay  House, 
London,  and  of  the  Public  Records  Office.  The  French  side 
of  the  story,  from  the  State  Papers  of  the  Marine  Archives. 
Bacqueville  de  la  Potherie,  who  was  present  in  the  fight  of  '97, 
gives  excellent  details  in  his  Historie  de  VAmerique  Septentrio- 
nale  (1792).  Jeremie,  who  was  interpreter  at  York,  wrote  an 
account,  to  be  found  among  other  voyages  in  the  Bernard  Col- 
lection of  Amsterdam.  For  side-lights  from  early  writers,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Doc.  Relatifs  Nouvelle  France;  Oldmixon; 
Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y .;  Quebec  Hist.  So.  Collection  in  which  will  be 
found  Abb^  Belmont's  Relation  and  Dollier  de  Casson's. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  one  of  the  conditions  of  surrender  was 
that  the  English  should  be  permitted  to  march  out  "match- 
lighted;  ball  in  mouth."  The  latter  term  needs  no  explanation. 
The  ball  was  held  ready  to  be  rammed  down  the  barrel.  With 
reference  to  the  term  "match-lighted,"  in  the  novel,  "Heralds 
of  Empire,"  I  had  referred  to  "matches"  when  the  argus-eyed 
critic  came  down  with  the  criticism  that  "matches"  were  not 
invented  until  after  1800.  I  stood  corrected  till  I  happened 
to  be  in  the  Tower  of  London  in  the  room  given  over  to  the 
collection  of  old  armor.     I  asked  one  of  the  doughty  old  "beef 

254 


Le  Moyne  df Iberville  Sweeps  ike  Bay 


eaters"  to  take  down  a  musket  of  that  period,  and  show  ine 
exactly  what  "match-lighted"  must  have  meant.  The  old 
soldier's  explanation  was  this:  In  time  of  war,  not  (lint  but  a 
little  bit  of  inflammable  punk  did  duty  as  "match-lighter." 
This  was  fastened  below  the  trigger  like  the  percussion  cap  of  a 
later  day.  The  privilege  of  surrendering  "match-lignted" 
meant  with  the  punk  below  the  trigger.  I  offer  this  explana- 
tion for  what  it  is  worth,  and  as  he  is  the  keeper  of  the  finest 
collection  of  old  armor  in  the  world,  the  chances  are  he  is  right 
and  that  matches  preceded  1800. 

At  first  sight,  there  may  seem  to  be  discrepancies  in  the 
numbers  on  the  English  ships,  but  the  200  mariners  were  extra 
men,  in  addition  to  the  50  or  60  seamen  on  each  frigate,  and  the 
50  or  60  servants  on  each  boat  sent  out  to  strengthen  the  forts. 


255 


CHAPTER  XIV 

1688-1710 

\VHAT  BECAME   OF  RADISSON?      NEW  FACTS   ON   THE 
LAST    DAYS    OF   THE    FAMOUS    PATHFINDER 

WHAT  became  of  Radisson?  It  seems  im- 
possible that  the  man,  who  set  France 
and  England  by  the  ears  for  a  century, 
and  led  the  way  to  the  pathfinding  of  half  America, 
should  have  dropped  so  completely  into  oblivion 
that  not  a  scrap  is  recorded  concerning  the  last 
twenty-five  years  of  his  life.  Was  he  run  to  earth 
by  the  bailiffs  of  London,  like  Thackeray's  "Vir- 
ginian?" Or  did  he  become  the  lion  tamed,  the 
eagle  with  its  wings  clipped,  to  be  patronized  by 
supercilious  nonentities?  Or  did  he  die  like  Ledyard 
of  a  heart  broken  by  hope  deferred? 

Radisson,  the  boy,  slim  and  swarth  as  an  Indian, 
running  a  mad  race  for  life  through  mountain  tor- 
rents that  would  throw  his  savage  pursuers  off  the 
trail — we  can  imagine;  but  not  Radisson  running 
from  a  London  bailiff.  Leading  flotillas  of  fur 
brigades  up  the  Ottawa  across  Lake  Superior  to  the 

256 


What  Became  of  Radls.soiiy 


Great  Northwest — he  is  a  familiar  figure,  but  not 
stroked  and  petted  and  patronized  by  the  frowzy 
duchesses  of  Charles  the  Second's  slovenly  court. 
Yet  from  the  time  Radisson  ceased  to  come  to 
Hudson  Bay  during  Iberville's  raids,  he  drops  as 
completely  out  of  history  as  if  he  had  been  lost  in 
Milton's  Scrbonian  Bog.  One  historian  describes 
him  as  assassinated  in  Quebec,  another  as  dying 
destitute.  Both  statements  are  guesses,  but  from  the 
dusty  records  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company — many 
of  them  undisturbed  since  Radisson's  time — can  be 
gleaned  a  complete  account  of  the  game  pathfinder's 
life  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

The  very  front  page  of  the  first  minute  book  kept 
by  the  Company,  contains  account  of  Radisson — an 
order  for  Alderman  Portman  to  pay  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  £5  a  year  for  expenses — chiefly  wine  and 
fresh  fruit,  as  later  entries  show.  There  were 
present  at  this  meeting  of  the  Company,  adventurers 
of  as  romantic  a  glamor  as  Robert  Louis  Stevenson's 
heroes  or  a  Captain  Kidd.  There  was  the  Earl  of 
Craven,  married  to  the  Queen  of  Bohemia.  There 
was  Ashley,  ambitious  for  the  earldom  that  came 
later,  and  with  the  reputation  that  "he  would  rob 
the  devil,  himself,  and  the  church  altars."  It  was 
Ashley,  when  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  who 
charged  a  bribe  of  £100  to  every  man  appointed  in 

257 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  government  services,  though  he  concealed  his 
peculations  under  stately  manners  and  gold  lace. 
Notoriety  was  the  stock  in  trade  of  the  court  beauties 
at  that  time,  and  Ashley's  wife  earned  public  notice 
by  ostentatiously  driving  in  a  glass  coach  that  was 
forever  splintering  in  collision  with  some  other  car- 
riage or  going  to  bits  over  the  clumsy  cobblestones. 
Old  Sir  George  Carterett  of  New  Jersey  was  now 
treasurer  of  the  Navy.  Sir  John  Robinson  was  com- 
mander of  the  Tower.  Griffith  was  known  as  the 
handsome  dandy  of  court  balls.  Sir  John  Kirke, 
the  Huguenot,  was  a  royal  pensioner  of  fighting 
blood,  whose  ancestors  had  captured  Quebec.  The 
meeting  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Adventurers  was  held 
at  the  house  of  Sir  Robert  Viner,  Lord  Mayor  of 
London,  renowned  for  the  richest  wife,  the  finest  art 
galleries,  the  handsomest  conservatories  in  England. 
It  was  to  Viner's  that  Charles  the  Second  came  with 
his  drunken  crew  to  fiddle  and  muddle  and  run  the 
giddy  course,  that  danced  the  Stuart's  off  the  throne. 
Mr.  Young  was  a  man  of  fashion  as  well  as  a  mer- 
chant, so  famous  for  amateur  acting  that  he  often 
took  the  place  of  the  court  actors  at  a  moment's 
notice. 

These  were  Radisson's  associates,  the  French- 
man's friends  when  he  came  to  London  fresh  from 
the  wilderness  in  his  thirtieth  year  with  the  explora- 

258 


Radisson's  House  on  Seething  Lane  in  167Q.     (i)  St.  Olave 
Hart's  Cliurch  ;   (2)  Radisson's  House  :   {^)  Pepys"  House. 


What  Became  of  Radis.wnV 


tion  of  the  North  and  the  West  to  his  credit.  None 
knew  better  than  he,  the  money  value  of  his  dis- 
coveries. And  Radisson  knew  the  way  to  this  land. 
By  the  lifting  of  his  hand,  he  could  turn  this  wealth 
into  the  coffers  of  the  court  adventurers.  If  the  fur 
trade  was  a  gamble — and  everything  on  earth  was 
gamble  in  the  reign  of  Charles — Radisson  held  the 
winning  cards.  The  gamesters  of  that  gambling  age 
gathered  round  him  like  rooks  round  a  pigeon,  to 
pick  his  pockets — politely  and  according  to  the  codes 
of  good  breeding,  of  course — and  to  pump  his  brain 
of  every  secret,  that  could  be  turned  into  pounds 
sterling — politely,  also,  of  course.  Very  generous, 
very  pleasant,  very  suave  of  fair  promises  were  the 
gay  adventurers,  but  withal  slippery  as  the  finery  of 
their  silk  ruffles  or  powdered  periwigs. 

Did  Radisson  keep  his  head?  Steadier  heads 
have  gone  giddy  with  the  sudden  plunge  from  wil- 
derness ways  to  court  pomp.  Sir  James  Hayes, 
Prince  Rupert's  secretary,  declares  in  a  private  docu- 
ment that  the  French  explorer  at  this  time  ^^ deluded 
the  daughter  of  Sir  John  Kirke  into  secretly  marry- 
ing him,"  so  that  Radisson  may  have  been  caught  in 
the  madcap  doings  of  the  court  dissipations  when 
no  rake's  progress  was  complete  unless  he  persuaded 
some  errant  damsel  to  jump  over  the  back  wall  and 
elope,  though  there  was  probably  no  hindrance  in 

259 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  world  to  ordinary  lovers  walking  openly  out  of 
the  front  door  and  being  married  properly.  The 
fact  that  Radisson  was  a  penniless  adventurer  and  a 
Catholic,  while  his  bride  was  the  daughter  of  a  rich 
Puritan,  may  have  been  the  explanation  of  the 
secrecy,  if  indeed,  there  is  any  truth  at  all  in  the 
rumor  repeated  by  Hayes. 

For  seven  years  after  he  came  to  London,  the  love 
of  wilderness  places,  of  strange  new  lands,  clung  to 
Radisson.  He  spent  the  summers  on  Hudson  Bay 
for  the  Company,  opening  new  forts,  cruising  up  the 
unknown  coasts,  bartering  with  new  tribes  of  Indians, 
and  while  not  acting  as  governor  of  any  fur  post, 
seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  general  superintendent, 
to  keep  check  on  the  Company's  officers  and  prevent 
fraud,  for  when  the  cargoes  arrived  at  Portsmouth, 
orders  were  given  for  the  Captains  not  to  stir  with- 
out convoy  to  come  to  the  Thames,  but  for  "Mr.  Rad- 
isson to  take  horse'''  and  ride  to  London  with  the  secret 
reports.  During  the  winters  in  London,  Sir  John 
Robinson  of  the  Tower  and  Radisson  attended  to 
the  sales  of  the  beaver,  bought  the  goods  for  the  next 
year's  ships,  examined  the  cannon  that  were  to  man 
the  forts  on  the  bay  and  attended  to  the  general  bus- 
iness of  the  Company.  Merchants,  who  were  share- 
holders, advanced  goods  for  the  yearly  outfit.  Other 
shareholders,  who  owned  ships,  loaned  or  gave  ves- 

260 


What  Became  of  Kadis  son? 


sels  for  the  voyage.  Wages  were  paid  as  money  came 
in  from  the  beaver  sales.  So  far,  Radisson  and  his 
associates  were  share  and  share  alike,  all  laying  the 
foundations  of  a  future  prosperity.  Radisson  and 
his  brother-in-law  drew  from  the  beaver  sales  during 
these  seven  years  (1667-1673)  £2%'],  about  $2,000 
each  for  living  expenses. 

But  now  came  a  change.  The  Company's  ships 
were  bought  and  paid  for,  the  Company's  forts  built 
and  equipped — all  from  the  sales  of  the  cargoes 
brought  home  under  Radisson's  superintendence. 
Now  that  profits  were  to  be  paid,  what  share  was 
his?  The  King  had  given  him  a  gold  chain  and 
medal  for  his  services,  but  to  him  the  Company  owed 
its  existence.  What  was  his  share  to  be?  In  a  word, 
was  he  to  be  one  of  the  Adventurers  or  an  outsider? 
Radisson  had  asked  the  Adventurers  for  an  agree- 
ment. Agreement  ?  A  year  passed,  Radisson  hung 
on,  living  from  hand  to  mouth  in  London,  re- 
ceiving ;^io  one  month,  £2  the  next,  an  average  of 
$5  a  week,  compelled  to  supplicate  the  Company 
for  every  penny  he  needed — a  very  excellent  arrange- 
ment for  the  Gentlemen  Adventurers.  It  compelled 
Radisson  to  go  to  them  for  favors,  instead  of  their 
going  to  Radisson;  though  from  Radisson's  point 
of  view,  the  boot  may  have  seemed  to  be  on  the 
wrong  leg.    Finally,  as  told  in  a  preceding  chapter 

261 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  committee  met  and  voted  him  ";^ioo  per  ami. 
from  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  London,  and  if  it  shall 
please  God  to  bless  this  company  with  good  siLccess, 
they  will  then  resume  the  consideration  of  Mr.  Rad- 
isson.''^  One  hundred  pounds  was  just  half  of  one 
per  cent,  of  the  yearly  cargoes.  It  was  the  salary 
of  the  captains  and  petty  governors  on  the  bay. 

Radisson  probably  had  his  own  opinion  of  a  con- 
tract that  was  to  depend  more  on  the  will  of  Heaven 
than  on  the  legal  bond  of  his  partners.  He  quit 
England  in  disgust  for  the  French  navy.  Then 
came  the  raids  on  Nelson,  the  order  of  the  French 
Court  to  return  to  England  and  his  resumption  of 
service  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  up  to  the 
time  Iberville  drove  the  English  from  the  bay  and 
French  traders  were  not  wanted  in  the  English 
service. 

For  changing  his  flag  the  last  time,  such  abuse  was 
heaped  on  Radisson  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
was  finally  constrained  to  protest:  ^^that  the  said 
Radisson  doth  not  deserve  those  ill  names  the  French 
give  him.  If  the  English  doe  not  give  him  all  his 
Due,  he  may  rely  on  the  justice  of  his  cause.^^ 

Indeed,  the  English  company  might  date  the  be- 
ginning of  the  French  raids  that  harried  their  forts 
for  a  hundred  years  from  Radisson's  first  raid  at 
Port  Nelson ;  but  they  did  not  foresee  this. 

262 


What  Became  of  Radisson? 


The  man  was  as  irrepressible  as  a  disturbed 
hornets'  nest — break  up  his  plans,  and  it  only  seemed 
to  scatter  them  with  wider  mischief.  How  the 
French  Court  ordered  Radisson  back  to  England 
has  already  been  told.  He  was  the  scapegoat  for 
court  intrigue.  Nothing  now  was  too  good  for 
Radisson — with  the  English.  The  Adventurers  pre- 
sented him  with  a  purse  ^^]or  his  extraordinary  ser- 
vices to  their  great  liking  and  satisjaction.''^  A  dealer 
is  ordered  "/o  keep  Mr.  Radisson  in  stock  of  fresh  pro- 
visions,'^ and  the  Company  desires  ^'that  Mr.  Rad- 
isson shall  have  a  hogshead  of  claret' '  presumably 
to  drown  his  memory  of  the  former  treatment.  My 
Lord  Preston  is  given  a  present  of  furs  for  pursuad- 
ing  Radisson  to  return.  So  is  "Esquire  Young," 
the  gay  merchant  of  Cornhill,  who  was  Radisson's 
best  friend  in  England,  and  Sir  James  Hayes,  who 
had  been  so  furious  against  him  only  a  few  months 
before,  begs  Monsieur  to  accept  that  silver  tankard 
as  a  token  of  esteem  from  the  Adventurers  (£io  4s, 
I  found  it  cost  by  the  account  books.) 

Only  one  doubt  seemed  to  linger  in  the  minds  of 
the  Company.  In  spite  of  King  Louis'  edict  for- 
bidding French  interlopers  on  Hudson's  Bay,  secret 
instructions  of  an  opposite  tenor  were  directing 
Iberville's  raiders  overland.  If  Radisson  was  to 
act  as  superintendent  on  the  bay,  chief  councillor 

263 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

at  Port  Nelson,  the  Company  must  have  bonds  as 
well  as  oath  for  his  fidelity,  and  so  the  entry  in  the 
minute  books  of  1685  records:  "^/  this  committee, 
Mons.  Pierre  Radisson  signed  and  sealed  the  cove- 
nants with  the  company,  and  signed  a  bond  of  £2,000 
to  perform  covenants  with  the  company,  dated  1 1  May. 
.  .  .  Dwelling  at  the  end  of  Seething  Lane  in 
Tower  Street.''^ 

I  think  it  was  less  than  ten  minutes  from  the  time 
I  found  that  entry  when  I  was  over  in  Seething  Lane. 
It  is  in  a  part  of  old  London  untouched  by  the  Great 
Fire  running  up  from  the  famous  road  to  the  Tower, 
in  length  not  greater  than  between  Fifth  and  Sixth 
Avenues,  New  York.  Opening  off  Great  Tower 
Street,  it  ends  at  Crutched  Friars.  At  the  foot  of 
the  lane  is  the  old  church  of  All  Hallows  Barking, 
whose  dial  only  was  burned  by  the  fire;  at  the  top, 
the  little  antiquated  church  of  St.  Olave  Hart's, 
whose  motley  architecture  with  leaning  walls  dates 
from  the  days  of  the  Normans.  If  Radisson  lived 
"a/  the  end  of  Seethi^ig  Lane,''''  his  house  must  have 
been  just  opposite  St.  Olave  Hart's,  for  the  quaint 
church  with  its  graveyard  occupies  the  entire  left 
corner.  In  this  lane  dwelt  the  merchant  princes  of 
London.  Samuel  Pepys,  Secretary  to  the  Navy, 
who  thought  his  own  style  of  living  "mighty  fine" 
— as  he  describes  it — preening  and  pluming  himself 

264 


What  Became  of  Radisson? 


on  the  beautiful  panels  he  had  placed  in  his  man- 
sion, must  have  been  a  near  neighbor  of  Radisson's; 
for  in  the  diarist's  description  of  the  fire,  he  speaks 
of  it  coming  to  Barking  Church  "at  the  bottom  of 
our  lane."  But  a  stone's  throw  away  is  the  Tower, 
in  those  days  commanded  by  Radisson's  friend.  Sir 
John  Robinson.  The  Kirkes,  the  CoUetons,  Griffith 
the  dandy  of  the  balls,  Sir  Robert  Viner,  the  rich 
Lord-Mayor;  Esquire  Young  of  Cornhill — all  had 
dwellings  within  a  few  minutes'  walk  of  Seething 
Lane. 

The  whereabouts  of  Radisson  in  London  explain 
how  the  journals  of  his  first  four  voyages  were  lost 
for  exactly  two  hundred  years  and  then  found  in  the 
Pepys  Collection  of  the  Bodleian  Library.  He  had 
given  them  either  directly  or  through  the  mutual 
friend  Carterett,  to  his  neighbor  Pepys,  who  was  a 
keen  collector  of  all  matter  appertaining  to  the  navy, 
and  after  being  lost  for  years,  the  Pepys  Collection 
only  passed  to  the  Bodleian  in  recent  days. 

The  place  where  Radisson  lived  shows,  too,  that 
he  was  no  backstairs  sycophant  hanging  on  the  favor 
of  the  great,  no  beggarly  renegade  hungry  for  the 
crumbs  that  fell  from  the  tables  of  those  merchant 
princes.  It  proves  Radisson  a  front-door  acquaint- 
ance of  the  Gentlemen  Adventurers.  Sir  Christo- 
pher Wren,  the  famous  architect  who  was  a  share- 

265 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

holder  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  at  this  time, 
thought  himself  well  paid  at  ;^2oo  a  year  for  super- 
intending the  building  of  St.  Paul's.  Radisson's 
agreement  on  returning  to  the  Adventurers  from 
France,  was  for  a  salary  of  £50  a  year,  paid  quar- 
terly, £^0  paid  yearly  and  dividends — running  as 
high  as  50  per  cent. — on  ;^2oo  of  stock — making  in 
all,  practically  the  same  income  as  a  man  of  Wren's 
standing. 

Second-rate  warehouses  and  dingy  business  offices 
have  replaced  the  mansions  of  the  great  merchants 
on  Seething  Lane,  but  the  two  old  churches  stand 
the  same  as  in  the  days  of  Radisson,  with  the  massive 
weather-stained  stone  work  uncouth,  as  if  built  by 
the  Saxons,  inner  pillars  and  pointed  arches  showing 
the  work  of  the  Normans.  Both  have  an  antique 
flavor  as  of  old  wine.  The  Past  seems  to  reach  for- 
ward and  touch  you  tangibly  from  the  moldering 
brass  plates  on  the  walls,  and  the  flagstone  of  the 
aisles  so  very  old  the  chiseled  names  of  the  dead 
below  are  peeling  off  like  paper.  The  great  mer- 
chant princes — the  Colletons,  the  Kirkes,  the  Rob- 
insons, Radisson's  friends — lie  in  efhgy  around  the 
church  above  their  graves.  It  was  to  St.  Olave's 
across  the  way,  Pepys  used  to  come  to  hear  Hawkins, 
the  great  Oxford  scholar,  also  one  of  the  Adventurers 
— preach ;  and  a  tablet  tells  where  the  body  of  Pepys' 

266 


What  Became  of  Radisson? 


gay  wife  lies.  From  the  walls,  a  memorial  tablet  to 
Pepys,  himself,  smiles  down  in  beplumed  hat  and 
curled  periwig  and  velvet  cloak,  perhaps  that  very 
cloak  made  in  imitation  of  the  one  worn  in  Hyde 
Park  by  the  King  and  of  which  he  was — as  he  writes 
— "so  mighty  proud."  The  roar  of  a  world's  traffic 
beats  against  the  tranquil  walls  of  the  little  church ; 
but  where  sleeps  Radisson,  the  Catholic  and  alien, 
in  this  Babylon  of  hurrying  feet?  His  friends  and 
his  neighbors  lie  here,  but  the  gravestones  give  no 
clue  of  him.  Pepys,  the  annalist  of  the  age,  with  his 
gossip  of  court  and  his  fair  wife  and  his  fine  clothes — 
thought  Radisson's  voyages  interesting  enough  as  a 
curio  but  never  seems  to  have  dreamed  that  the 
countries  Radisson  discovered  would  become  a 
dominant  factor  in  the  world's  progress  when  that 
royal  house  on  whose  breath  Pepys  hung  for  favor 
as  for  life,  lay  rotting  in  a  shameful  oblivion.  If  the 
dead  could  dream  where  they  lie  forgotten,  could 
Radisson  believe  his  own  dream — that  the  seas  of 
the  world  are  freighted  with  the  wealth  of  the  coun- 
tries he  discovered;  that  ^Hhe  country  so  pleasant, 
so  beautiful  .  .  .  so  fruitful  .  .  .  so  plen- 
tiful of  all  things ^^ — as  he  described  the  Great  North- 
west when  he  first  saw  it — is  now  peopled  by  a  race 
that  all  the  nations  of  Europe  woo;  that  the  hope  of 
the  empire,  which  ignored  him  when  he  lived,  is  now 

267 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

centered  on  "that  fair  and  fruitful  and  pleasant 
land"  which  he  discovered? 

For  ten  years  Radisson  continued  to  go  to  the  bay, 
Esquire  Young  acting  as  his  attorney  to  draw  the 
allowance  of  £ioo  a  year  and  the  dividends  on  ;^2oo 
stock  for  Radisson's  wife,  Mary  Kirke.  The  min- 
utes contain  accounts  of  wine  presented  to  Mr.  Rad- 
isson, of  furs  sent  home  as  a  gift  to  Mistress  Radisson, 
of  heavy  guns  bought  for  the  forts  on  the  advice  of 
Mr.  Radisson,  of  a  fancy  pistol  delivered  to  Monsieur 
Radisson.    Then  a  change  fell. 

The  Stuarts  between  vice  and  folly  had  danced 
themselves  off  the  throne.  The  courtiers,  who  were 
Adventurers,  scattered  like  straws  before  the  wind. 
The  names  of  the  shareholders  changed.  Of  Rad- 
isson's old  friends,  only  Esquire  Young  remained. 
Besides,  Iberville  was  now  campaigning  on  the 
bay,  sweeping  the  English  as  dust  before  a  broom. 
Dividends  stopped.  The  Company  became  embar- 
rassed. By  motion  of  the  shareholders,  Radisson's 
pension  was  cut  from  ;^ioo  to  £^o  a  year.  In  vain 
Esquire  Young  and  Churchill,  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough, now  governor  of  the  Company,  urged  Rad- 
isson's claims.  The  new  shareholders  did  not  know 
his  name. 

These  were  dark  days  for  the  old  pathfinder.  He 
must  have  been  compelled  to  move  from  Seething 

268 


What  Became  oj  Radisson? 


Lane,  for  a  petition  describes  him  as  in  the  Parish  of 
St.  James  ''in  a  low  and  mean  condition"  in  great 
want  and  mental  distress  lest  his  family  should  be 
driven  to  the  poorhouse.  It  was  at  this  period  three 
papers  were  put  on  file  that  forever  place  beyond 
dispute  the  main  facts  of  his  life.  He  filed  a  suit 
in  Chancery  against  the  Company  for  a  resumption 
of  his  full  salary  pending  the  discontinuance  of  divi- 
dends. He  petitioned  Parliament  to  make  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  Company's  charter  dependent  on 
recognition  of  his  rights  as  having  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Company,  And  he  took  an  oath  regard- 
ing the  main  episodes  of  his  life  to  be  used  in  the 
treaty  of  peace  with  France.  A  fighter  he  was  to 
the  end,  though  haunted  by  that  terrible  Fear  of 
Want  which  undermined  his  courage  as  no  Phantom 
Fright  ever  shook  him  in  the  wilderness.  No  doubt 
he  felt  himself  growing  old,  nearly  seventy  now  with 
four  children  to  support  and  naught  between  them 
and  destitution  but  the  paltry  payment  of  £12  los  a 
quarter. 

Again  the  wheel  of  fortune  turned.  Radisson 
won  his  suit  against  the  Company.  His  income  of 
£100  was  resumed  and  arrears  of  ^150  paid.  Also, 
in  the  treaty  pending  with  France,  his  evidence  was 
absolutely  requisite  to  establish  what  the  boundaries 
ought  to  be  between  Canada  and  Hudson  Bay ;  so  the 

269 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Adventurers  became  suddenly  very  courteous,  very 
suave,  very  considerate  of  the  old  man  they  had 
kept  standing  outside  their  office  door;  and  the  com- 
mittee of  August  17,  1697,  bade  ^^the  secretary  take 
coach  and  fetch  Mr.  Radisson  who  may  be  very  useful 
at  this  time  as  to  affairs  between  the  French  and  the 
Company.''^  The  old  war  horse  was  once  more  in 
harness.  In  addition  to  his  salary,  gratuities  of  ;^io 
and  ;^8  and  ;^2o  "for  reliable  services"  are  found 
in  the  minutes.  Regularly  his  £50  were  paid  to  him 
at  the  end  of  each  year.  Regularly,  the  ;^i2  los 
were  paid  each  quarter  to  March  29,  17 10.  When 
the  next  quarter  came  round,  this  entry  is  recorded 
in  the  minute  book: 

*M//  A   Comitte  the   12th  July   17 10 — 
*^The  Sec  is  ordered  to  pay  Mr.  Radisson'' s  widow  as 
charity  the  sum  0}  six  pounds. ^^ 

Between  the  end  of  March  and  the  beginning  of 
July,  the  old  pathfinder  had  set  forth  on  his  last 
voyage. 

But  I  think  the  saddest  record  of  all  is  the  one 
that  comes  nineteen  years  later: 

"24  Sept.  1729  Att  A  Comitte — 
"  The  Sec.  is  ordered  to  pay  Mrs.  Radisson,  widow  of  Mr. 
Peter  Esprit  Radisson,  who  was  formerly  employed  in  the 
company^s  service,  the  sum  of  ^^lo  as  charity,  she  being 
very  ill  and  in  very  great  want,  the  said  sum  to  be  paid 
her  at  such  times  as  the  Sec.  shall  think  most  convenient." 

270 


What  Became  of  Radisson? 


This  was  the  widow  of  the  man  who  had  explored 
the  West  to  the  Mississippi;  who  had  explored  the 
North  to  Nelson  River;  who  had  twice  saved  New 
France  from  bankruptcy  by  the  furs  he  brought  from 
the  wilderness,  and  who  had  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  most  prosperous  chartered  company  the  world 
has  ever  known. 


Notes  on  Chapter  XIV. — It  need  scarcely  be  explained  that 
the  data  for  this  chapter  are  all  drawn  from  thousands  of  sheets 
of  scattered  records  in  Hudson's  Bay  House,  London.  Within 
the  limits  of  this  book,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  quote  all  the 
references  of  this  chapter.  Details  of  Radisson 's  early  life  are 
to  be  found  in  "Pathfinders  of  the  West."  One  of  Radisson 's  peti- 
tions has  been  given  in  a  former  chapter.  Another  of  his  pe- 
titions runs  as  follows: 

"Copy  of  Peter  Esprit  Radisson's  peticon  to  ye  Parleamt. 
presented  ye  nth  of  March  1697-8. 

"To  ye  Hon'ble  the  Knights  Citizens  &  Burgesses  in  Parli- 
ament Assembled 

"The  Humble  Peticon  of  Peter  Esprit  Radisson  Humbly 
sheweth 

"That  your  petitioner  is  a  native  of  France,  who  with  a 
brother  of  his  (smce  deceased)  spent  many  years  of  their  youths 
among  the  Indians  in  and  about  Hudson's  Bay,  by  reason 
whereof  they  became  absolute  masters  of  the  trade  and  lan- 
guage of  the  said  Indians  in  those  parts  of  America 

"That  about  the  year  1666  King  Charles  the  Second  sent 
yr.  Pet'r  and  his  said  brother  with  two  ships  on  purpose  to 
settle  English  colonies  &  factories  on  the  sd.  Dav,  wh.  they 
effected  soe  well  by  the  said  King's  satisfaction  that  he  gave 
each  of  them  a  gold  chain  &  medell  as  a  marke  of  his  Royale 
favour  &  recommended  them  to  the  Comp'y  of  Adventurers  of 
England  Trading  unto  Hudson's  Bay  to  be  well  gratified  and 
rewarded  by  them  for  their  services  aforesaid. 

"That  since  the  death  of  yr.  Pctr.  Brother,  the  sd.  compy 
have  settled  on  your  Petr:  six  actions  in  the  joint  stock  of  ye 
sd.  compy  and  one  hundred  pounds  per  annum  during  yr.  Petr: 
life 

"That  your  Petr  is  now  62  years  of  age  (being  grown  old  in 
the  compys  service)  &  hath  not  reed  any  Benefits  of  the  sd.  six 

271 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


shares  in  the  compj's  stock  for  more  than  7  years  last  past  & 
hath  had  nothing  but  the  sd.  100  pds.  Per  annum  to  maintain 
himselfe  and  four  small  children  all  borne  in  England 

"That  during  the  late  Reign  a  Price  was  set  upon  your  Petr 
head  by  the  French  &  several  attempts  were  made  upon  him 
to  assassinate  him  &  that  for  none  other  reasons  but  for  quittting 
his  owne  country  &  serving  the  compy. 

"That  your  Petr:  dares  not  return  to  his  Native  country  for 
the  reasons  aforesaid :  &  seeing  all  his  subsistance  depends  on  the 
sd.  compy  &  is  shortly  to  Determine  with  the  life  of  your  Petr 
and  his  four  smalle  children  must  consequently  fall  to  be  main- 
tained by  the  Alms  of  the  Parish  altho'  the  company  hath  had 
many  thousand  pounds  effects  by  his  procurement  &  some  that 
he  conceives  he  had  himselfe  a  good  tytle  to 

"  Your  Petr  therefore  most  humbly  prays  that  this  House  will 
comiserate  the  condition  of  yr.  Petr  said  children,  and  whereas 
he  hath  now  the  said  six  actions  &  ;i^ioo  only  for  his  life,  that 
you  will  Vouchsafe  to  direct  a  provisoe  in  the  Bill  depending  to 
grant  the  sd.  annuity  to  be  paid  quarterly  &  the  dividends  of 
the  sd.  Actions  as  often  as  any  shall  become  due  to  your  Petr: 
his  Heirs  for  Ever  during    the  joint  stock  of  the  said  compy 

"And  yr.  Petr  shall  forever  pray 

"Peter  Esprit  Radisson." 

The  occasion  of  this  petition  by  Radisson  was  when  the 
Stuarts  had  lost  the  throne  and  the  Company  was  petitioning 
for  a  confirmation  of  its  royal  charter  by  an  act  of  Parliament, 
"The  many  thousand  pounds  which  he  conceived  himself  to 
have  a  title  to,"  refers  to  1684,  when  the  French  Court  com- 
pelled him  to  turn  over  all  the  ;^2o,ooo  in  his  fort  at  Nelson  to 
the  English.  That  beaver  had  been  procured  in  the  trade  of 
goods  for  which  Radisson  and  Groseillers  and  young  Chouart 
and  La  Forest  and  De  la  Chesnay  and  Dame  Sorrell  had  ad- 
vanced the  money.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Company  never 
gave  Radisson  any  stock.  They  simply  granted  him  the  right 
to  dividends  on  a  small  amount  of  stock — a  wTong  which  he  was 
powerless  to  right  as  he  dared  not  return  to  France.  It  was 
during  Iberville's  raids  that  the  Company  stopped  paying 
Radisson  dividends  or  salary,  when  he  filed  a  suit  against  them 
in  Chancery  and  won  it.  It  is  quite  true  the  Company  was  un- 
able to  pay  him  at  this  time,  but  then  they  had  their  own  nig- 
gardly policy  to  thank  for  having  driven  him  across  to  France 
in  the  first  place. 

When  the  Company  presented  a  bill  of  damages  against 
France  for  the  raids,  Radisson 's  evidence  was  necessary  to  prove 
that  the  French  King  gave  up  all  claims  to  the  bay  when  he 
ordered   Radisson  back   to  England,   so  the  old  man   was  no 

272 


What  Became  of  Radisson? 


longer  kept  cooling  his  heels  in  the  outer  halls  of  the  Company's 
Council  Room.      The  bill  of  damages  was  made  up  as  follows: 
1682 — Port  Nelson  taken  with  Gov.   Bridgar 
&   Zechariah   Gillam  &   5  men  per- 
ished  £  25,000 

1684 — damage  to  trade  at  Nelson 10,000 

1685 — Pcrpetuana  taken  with  14  seamen 5,000 

loss  of  life  and  wages 1.255 

1686 — forts  captured  at  the  bottom  of  the  bay      50,000 

loss  in  trade 10,000 

1688 — loss  of  Churchill  Captain  Bond 15,000 

Young — Stimson 

cargo  to  Canada 70,000 

1692 — forts  lost 20,000 

£"206,255 

The  French  King  had  said,  "You  may  rely  on  me  getting 
out  of  this  affair,"  and  the  bill  of  damages,  however  absurdly 
exaggerated,  was  never  paid.  The  French  raiders  proved  an 
expensive  experiment. 

Radisson's  other  affidavit  was  made  to  prove  that  the  French 
had  quitted  all  pretensions  to  the  bay  when  he  was  ordered 
back  to  Nelson.  The  French  responded  by  denying  that  he 
had  ever  been  ordered  back  to  Nelson  and  by  calling  him  "a 
liar,"  "a  renegade,"  "a  turn  coat."  To  this,  the  English 
answered  in  formal  memorial:  "The  Mr.  Radisson  mentioned 
in  this  paper  doth  not  deserve  the  ill  names  heaped  upon  him," 
following  up  with  the  proof  that  the  French  had  sent  him  back 
to  England. 

The  real  reason  that  the  Company  were  so  remiss  to  Radisson 
in  his  latter  days  was  their  own  desperate  straits.  Besides, 
the  old  shareholders  of  the  Stuart  days  had  scattered  like  the 
wind.  Radisson  was  unknown  to  the  new  men,  so  completely 
unknown  that  in  one  committee  order  his  wife  is  spoken  of  as 
Madam  Gwodet  (Godey)  instead  of  Mary  Kirke.  Now  Madam 
Godey  was  the  damsel  whom  Lord  Preston  offered  to  Radisson 
in  marriage  (with  a  dowry)  despite  the  fact  that  he  already 
had  a  wife — if  he  would  go  back  from  Paris  to  London.  De  la 
Potherie  tells  the  story  and  adds  that  Radisson  married  her— 
another  of  the  numerous  fictions  about  the  explorer.  This 
mass  of  notes  may  give  the  impression  that  I  am  a  protagonist 
of  Radisson.  My  answer  is  that  he  badly  needs  one,  when  such 
staunch  modern  defenders  of  his  as  Drs.  Bryce,  and  Dionne, 
and  Judge  Prudhomme  refuse  to  excuse  him  for  his  last  deser- 
tion of  the  French  flag.  In  that  case,  Radisson  was  as  much  a 
victim  of  official  red  tape  as  Dreyfus  in  modern  days. 


PART  III 

1700-1820 

The  Search  for  the  North- West  Passage,  the  Fall 
of  France,  the  Inlanders,  the  Coming  of  the  Colo- 
nists and  the  Great  Struggle  with  the  North-West 
Company  of  Montreal. 


CHAPTER  XV 

1699-1720 

THE  FIRST  ATTEMPT  OF  THE  ADVENTURERS  TO  EX- 
PLORE— HENRY  KELSEY  PENETRATES  AS  FAR  AS 
THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  SASKATCHEWAN — SANFORD 
AND  ARRINGTON,  KNOWN  AS  "rED  CAP,"  FOL^'D 
HENLEY  HOUSE  INLAND  FROM  ALBANY — BESET 
FROM  WITHOUT,  THE  COMPANY  IS  ALSO  BESET 
FROM  WITHIN — PETITIONS  AGAINST  THE  CHAR- 
TER— INCREASE  OF  CAPITAL — RESTORATION  OF 
THE  BAY  FROM  FRANCE 

THE  Peace  of  Ryswick  in  1697,  which  decreed 
that  war  should  cease  on  Hudson  Bay, 
and  that  France  and  England  should  each 
retain  what  they  chanced  to  possess  at  the  time  of 
the  treaty — left  the  Adventurers  of  England  with 
only  one  fort,  Albany,  under  doughty  old  Governor 
Knight,  and  one  outpost.  New  Severn,  which  refugees 
driven  to  the  woods  had  built  out  of  necessity. 

Back  in  '85  when  Robert  Sanford  had  been  or- 
dered lo  explore  inland,  he  had  reported  such  voy- 
ages impracticable.  The  only  way  to  obtain  inland 
trade,  he  declared,  was  to  give  presents  to  the  Indian 

277 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

chiefs  and  attract  the  tribes  down  to  the  bay.  Now 
that  the  French  had  swept  the  English  from  the  bay, 
Sanford  was  driven  to  the  very  thing  he  had  said 
could  not  be  done — penetrating  inland  to  intercept 
the  Indian  fleets  of  canoes  before  they  came  down  to 
the  French.  With  one  Arrington,  known  as  Red 
Cap  on  the  bay,  and  a  man,  John  Vincent,  Sanford 
year  after  year  went  upstream  from  Albany  through 
Keewatin  toward  what  is  now  Manitoba.  By  1700, 
Henley  House  had  been  built  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  inland  from  Albany.  The  French  war  was 
proving  a  blessing  in  disguise.  It  had  awakened  the 
sleeping  English  gentlemen  of  the  bay  and  was 
scattering  them  far  and  wide.  The  very  year  the 
French  came  overland,  1686,  Captain  Abraham  had 
sailed  north  from  Nelson  to  Churchill — "a  faire  wide 
river,"  he  describes  it,  naming  it  after  the  great  Marl- 
borough; and  now  with  only  Albany  as  the  radiat- 
ing point,  commanded  by  old  Governor  Knight, 
sloops  under  the  apprentice  boy,  young  Henry  Kel- 
sey,  under  Mike  Grimmington  and  Smithsend,  sailed 
across  to  the  east  side  of  the  bay,  known  as  East 
Main  (now  known  as  Ungava  and  Labrador)  and 
yearly  traded  so  successfully  with  the  wandering 
Eskimo  and  Montagnais  there  that  in  spite  of  the 
French  holding  the  bay,  cargoes  of  30,000  and  40,000 
beaver  pelts  were  sent  home  to  England. 

278 


First  Aitcmpi  of  tJic  Advcniurcrs  to  Explore 

But  the  honors  of  exploration  at  this  period  belong 
to  the  ragamuffin,  apprentice  lad,  Henry  Kelsey. 
He  had  come  straight  to  Nelson  before  the  French 
occupation  from  the  harum-scarum  life  of  a  London 
street  arab.  At  the  fur  posts,  discipline  was  abso- 
lutely strict.  Only  the  governor  and  chief  trader 
were  allowed  to  converse  with  the  Indians.  No  man 
could  leave  the  fort  to  hunt  without  special  parole. 
Every  subordinate  was  sworn  to  unquestioning  obedi- 
ence to  the  officer  above  him.  Servants  were  not 
supposed  to  speak  unless  spoken  to.  Written  rules 
and  regulations  were  stuck  round  the  fort  walls  thick 
as  advertisements  put  up  by  a  modern  bill  poster, 
and  the  slightest  infraction  of  these  martinet  rules 
was  visited  by  guardroom  duty,  or  a  sound  drub- 
bing at  the  hands  of  the  chief  factor,  or  public  court- 
martial  followed  by  the  lash.  It  was  all  a  part  of  the 
cocked  hat  and  red  coat  and  gold  lace  and  silk  ruffles 
with  which  these  little  kings  of  the  wilderness  sought 
to  invest  themselves  with  the  pomp  of  authority.  It 
is  to  the  everlasting  credit  of  the  Company's  governors 
that  a  system  of  such  absolute  despotism  was  seldom 
abused.  Perhaps,  too,  the  loneliness  of  the  life— a 
handful  of  whites  cooped  up  amid  all  the  perils  of 
savagery— made  each  man  realize  the  responsibility 
of  being  his  brother's  keeper. 

Henry  Kelsey,  the  apprentice  boy,  fresh  from  the 
279 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

streets  of  London,  promptly  ran  amuck  of  the  strict 
rules  at  Nelson.  He  went  in  and  out  of  the  fort 
without  leave,  and  when  gates  were  locked,  he 
climbed  the  walls.  In  spite  of  rules  to  the  contrary, 
he  talked  with  the  Indians  and  hunted  with  them, 
and  when  Captain  Geyer  switched  him  soundly  for 
disobedience,  he  broke  bars,  jumped  the  walls,  and 
ran  away  with  a  party  of  Assiniboines.  About  this 
time,  came  the  French  to  the  bay.  The  Company 
was  moving  heaven  and  earth  to  induce  servants 
to  go  inland  for  trade  when  an  Indian  runner 
brought  a  message  on  birch  bark  from  Kelsey.  He 
had  been  up  Hayes  River  with  the  Indians  and  now 
offered  to  conduct  an  exploration  on  condition  of 
pardon.  Geyer  not  only  pardoned  the  young  rene- 
gade but  welcomed  him  back  to  the  fort  bag  and 
baggage,  Indian  wife  and  all  the  trumpery  of  an 
Indian  family.  The  great  Company  issued  Kelsey 
a  formal  commission  for  discovery,  and  the  next  year 
on  July  15,  1 69 1,  as  the  Assiniboines  departed  from 
Deering's  Point  where  they  camped  to  trade  at  Nel- 
son, Kelsey  launched  out  in  a  canoe  with  them. 

Radisson  and  young  Chouart  had  been  up  this 
river  some  distance;  but  as  far  as  known,  Kelsey 
was  the  first  white  man  to  follow  Hayes  River  west- 
ward as  far  as  the  prairies.  The  weather  was  ex- 
ceedingly dry,  game  scarce,  grass  high  and  brittle, 

280 


First  Attempt  of  the  Adventurers  to  Explore 

the  tracks  hard  to  follow  whether  of  man  or  beast. 
Within  a  week,  the  Indians  had  gone  up  one  hundred 
and  seventy  miles  toward  what  are  now  known  as 
Manitoba  and  Saskatchewan,  but  only  two  moose 
and  one  partridge  had  been  killed,  and  provisions 
were  exhausted.  I^eaving  the  Indians,  Kelsey  pushed 
forward  across  country  following  the  trail  of  an  en- 
campment to  the  fore.  At  the  end  of  a  thirty  mile 
tramp  through  brushwood  of  poplars  and  scrub 
birch,  he  came  to  three  leather  tepees.  No  one  was 
in  them.  Men  and  women  were  afield  hunting. 
Ravenous  with  hunger,  Kelsey  ransacked  provision 
bags.  He  found  nothing  but  dried  grass  and  was 
fain  to  stay  his  hunger  with  berries.  At  night  the 
hunters  came  in  with  ten  swans  and  a  moose.  Here, 
Kelsey  remained  with  them  hunting  till  his  party 
came  up,  when  all  advanced  together  another  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  to  the  Assiniboine  camp- 
ing place.  There  were  only  twenty-six  tents  of 
Assiniboines.  In  a  fray,  the  main  party  of  Assini- 
boine hunters  had  slain  three  Cree  women,  and  had 
now  fled  south,  away  from  Cree  territory.  By  the 
middle  of  August,  Kelsey  and  his  hunters  were  on 
the  buffalo  plains.  All  day,  the  men  hunted.  At 
night,  the  women  went  out  to  bring  in  and  dress  the 
meat.  Once,  exhausted,  Kelsey  fell  sound  asleep 
on  the  trail.    When  he  awakened,  there  was  not  even 

281 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  dust  of  the  hunt  to  guide  him  back  to  camp. 
From  horizon  to  horizon  was  not  a  living  soul ;  only 
the  billowing  prairie,  grass  neck  high,  with  the  lonely 
call  of  birds  circling  overhead.  By  following  the 
crumpled  grass  and  watching  the  sky  for  the  reflec- 
tion of  the  camp  fires  at  night,  Kelsey  found  his  way 
back  to  the  Assiniboines.  Another  time,  camp  fire 
had  been  made  of  dry  moss.  Kelsey  was  awakened 
to  find  the  grass  round  him  on  fire  and  the  stock  of 
his  musket  blazing.  With  his  jackknife  he  made  a 
rude  gunstock  for  the  rest  of  the  trip.  Hunting  with 
an  Indian  one  day,  the  two  came  unexpectedly  on  a 
couple  of  grizzly  bears.  The  surprise  was  mutual. 
The  bears  knew  no  fear  of  firearms  and  were  dis- 
posed to  parley,  but  the  hunters  didn't  wait.  The 
Indian  dashed  for  a  tree;  Kelsey  for  hiding  in  a 
bunch  of  willows,  firing  as  he  ran.  The  bears  mis- 
took the  direction  of  the  shot  and  had  pursued  the 
Indian.  Kelsey's  charge  had  wounded  one  bear, 
and  with  a  second  shot,  he  now  disabled  the  other, 
firing  full  in  its  face.  The  double  victory  over  the 
beast  of  prey  most  feared  by  the  Indians  gained  him 
the  name  of  Little  Giant — Miss-to p-ashish. 

From  Kelsey's  journal,  it  is  impossible  to  follow 
the  exact  course  of  his  wanderings.  Enemies,  who 
tried  to  prove  that  the  English  Company  deserved  no 
credit  for  exploration,  declared  that  he  did  not  go 

282 


First  Attempt  of  the  Adventurers  to  Explore 

farther  than  five  hundred  miles  from  the  bay,  seventy- 
one  by  canoe,  three  hundred  through  woods  over- 
land, forty-six  across  a  plain,  then  eighty-one  more 
to  the  buffalo  country.  From  his  own  journal,  the 
distance  totals  up  six  hundred  miles;  but  he  does  not 
mention  any  large  river  except  the  Hayes,  or  large 
lake;  so  that  after  striking  westward  he  must  have 
been  north  of  Lake  Winnipeg  and  the  Saskatchewan, 
but  not  so  far  north  and  west  as  Athabasca.  This 
would  place  his  wanderings  in  the  modern  province 
of  Saskatchewan. 

It  was  the  24th  of  August  before  he  joined  Washa, 
chief  of  the  Assiniboines,  and  took  up  lodgings  amid 
the  eighty  tents  of  the  tribe.  Solemnly,  the  peace 
pipe  was  smoked  and,  on  the  12th  of  September,  Kel- 
sey  presented  the  Assiniboine  chief  with  the  present 
of  a  lace  coat,  a  cap,  a  sash,  guns,  knives,  powder  and 
shot,  telling  the  Indians  these  were  tokens  of  what 
the  white  men  would  do  if  the  Indians  proved  good 
hunters;  but  on  no  account  must  the  tribes  war  on 
one  another,  or  the  white  man  would  give  the  enemy 
guns,  which  would  exterminate  all  fighters.  Washa 
promised  to  bring  his  hunt  down  to  the  bay,  which 
tribal  wars  prevented  for  some  years.  Hudson's  Bay 
traders,  who  followed  up  Kelsey's  exploration- 
aimed  for  the  region  now  known  as  Cumberland 
House,  variously  called  Poskoyac  and  Basquia — 

283 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

westward  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  so  there  is  little  doubt  it 
was  in  this  land  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  boy  first 
hunted  and  camped.  With  Kelsey,  the  result  was 
instant  promotion.  His  wife  went  home  to  England, 
where  she  was  regularly  paid  his  salary,  and  he  rose 
to  a  position  second  only  to  the  venerable  old  Gov- 
ernor Knight,  commander  of  the  entire  bay. 

Meanwhile,  the  French  were  having  their  own 
troubles  in  the  captured  forts.  War  had  broken  out 
again,  and  was  going  against  France  in  Marlbor- 
ough's victories.  The  French  might  hold  the  bay, 
but  not  a  pound  of  provisions  could  be  sent  across 
seas  on  account  of  English  privateers.  The  French 
garrisons  of  Hudson  Bay  were  starving.  Indians, 
who  brought  down  pelts  from  the  Pays  d'En  Haut 
or  upcountry — could  obtain  no  goods  in  barter  and 
having  grown  dependent  on  the  whiteman's  fire- 
arms, were  in  turn  reduced  to  straits. 

Lagrange,  a  gay  court  adventurer,  had  come  out 
in  1704  to  Nelson,  which  the  French  called  Bourbon, 
with  a  troop  of  pleasure-seeking  men  and  women 
for  a  year's  hunting.  For  one  year,  the  drab  mo- 
notony of  post  life  was  enlivened  by  a  miniature 
Paris.  Wines  from  the  royal  cellars  flowed  like 
water.  The  reckless  songs  of  court  gallants  rang 
among  the  rafters,  and  the  slippered  feet  of  more 
reckless  court  beauties  tripped  the  light  dance  over 

284 


First  Attempt  of  the  Adventurers  to  Explore 

the  rough-timbered  floors  of  the  fur  post.  It  was  a 
wild  age,  and  a  wild  court  from  which  they  came  to 
this  wilderness — reckless  women  and  reckless  men, 
whose  God  was  Pleasure.  Who  knows  what  court 
intrigue  was  being  hidden  and  acted  out  at  Port 
Nelson?  Poor  butterflies,  that  had  scorched  their 
wings  and  lost  their  youth,  came  here  to  masquerade ! 
Soldiers  of  fortune,  who  had  gambled  their  patrimony 
in  the  royal  court  and  stirred  up  scandal,  rusticating 
in  a  little  log  fort  in  the  wilderness!  The  theme  is 
more  romantic  than  the  novelist  could  conceive. 

But  war  broke  out,  and  Lagrange's  gay  troop 
scattered  like  leaves  before  the  wind.  Iberville 
was  dead  in  Havana.  LaF6rest  of  the  Quebec  Fur 
Company  had  gone  back  to  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Jeremie,  the  interpreter,  had  gone  to  France  on 
leave,  in  1707,  and  now  in  1708,  when  the  French 
garrisons  were  starving  and  the  high  seas  scoured  by 
privateers — Jeremie  came  back  as  governor,  under 
the  king.  He  at  once  dispatched  men  to  hunt. 
Nine  bushrangers  had  camped  one  night  near  a  tent 
of  Crees.  The  Indians  were  hungry,  sullen,  resent- 
ful to  the  whitemen  who  failed  to  trade  guns  and 
powder  as  the  English  had  traded.  At  the  fort, 
they  had  been  turned  away  with  their  furs  on  their 
hands.  It  is  the  characteristic  of  the  French  trader 
that  he  frequently  descends  to  the  level  of  the  Indian. 

285 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northivest 

Jeremie's  nine  men  were,  perhaps,  slightly  intoxicated 
after  their  supper  of  fresh  game  and  strong  brandy. 
Two  Indian  women  came  to  the  camp  and  invited 
two  Frenchmen  to  the  Indian  tents.  The  fellows 
tumbled  into  the  trap  like  the  proverbial  country 
jack  with  the  thimblerigger.  No  sooner  had  they 
reached  the  Indian  tepees  than  they  were  brained. 
Seizing  the  pistols  and  knives  of  the  dead  men,  the 
Indians  crept  through  the  thicket  to  the  fire  of  the 
bush-rovers.  With  unearthly  yells  they  fell  on  the 
remaining  seven  and  cut  them  to  pieces.  One 
wounded  man  alone  escaped  by  feigning  the  rigor  of 
death,  while  they  stripped  him  naked,  and  creeping 
off  into  hiding  of  the  bushes  while  the  savages  de- 
voured the  dead.  Waiting  till  they  had  gone,  the 
wounded  man  crawled  painfully  back  by  night — a 
distance  of  thirty  miles — to  Jeremie,  at  an  outpost. 
Jeremie  quickly  withdrew  the  garrison  from  the  out- 
post, retreated  within  the  double  palisades  of  Nelson 
(Bourbon)  shot  all  bolts,  unplugged  his  cannon  and 
awaited  siege ;  but  Indians  do  not  attack  in  the  open. 
Jeremie  held  the  fort  till  events  in  Europe  relieved 
him  of  his  charge. 

In  spite  of  French  victories,  as  long  as  Mike  Grim- 
mington  and  Nick  Smithsend  were  bringing  home 
cargoes  of  thirty  thousand  beaver  a  year,  the  English 

286 


First  Attempt  of  the  Adventurers  to  Explore 

Adventurers  prospered.  In  fact,  within  twenty 
years  of  their  charter's  grant,  they  had  prospered  so 
exceedingly  that  they  no  longer  had  the  face  to 
declare  such  enormous  dividends,  and  on  Septem- 
ber 3,  1690,  it  was  unanimously  decided  to  treble 
their  original  stock  from  ;;^io,5oo  to  ;i(^3i,5oo.  The 
reasons  given  for  this  action  were:  that  there  were 
furs  of  more  value  than  the  original  capital  of  the 
Company  now  in  the  Company's  warehouses;  that 
the  year's  cargo  was  of  more  value  than  the  original 
capital  of  the  Company ;  that  the  returns  in  beaver 
from  Nelson  and  Severn  alone  this  year  exceeded 
£20,000;  that  the  forts  and  armaments  were  of  great 
value,  and  that  the  Company  had  reasons  to  expect 
£100,000  reparation  from  the  French. 

Immediately  after  the  decision,  a  dividend  of  25 
per  cent,  was  declared  on  the  trebled  stock. 

Such  prosperity  excited  envy.  The  fur  buyers  and 
pelt  workers  and  skin  merchants  of  London  were  up 
in  arms.  People  began  to  question  whether  a  royal 
house,  which  had  been  deposed  from  the  English 
throne,  had  any  right  to  deed  away  in  perpetuity 
public  domain  of  such  vast  wealth  to  court  favorites. 
Besides,  court  favorites  had  scattered  with  the  ruined 
Stuart  House.  Newcomers  were  the  holders  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  stock.  V/hat  right  had 
these  newcomers  to  the  privileges  of  such  monopoly? 

287 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Especially,  what  was  the  meaning  of  such  dividends, 
when  the  Company  regularly  borrowed  all  the  money 
needed  for  working  operations?  As  late  as  1685, 
the  Company  had  borrowed  £2,000  at  6  per  cert,  from 
its  own  shareholders,  and  after  French  disasters 
began  to  injure  its  credit  in  the  London  market,  it 
regularly  sent  agents  to  borrow  money  in  Amsterdam. 

The  Company  foresaw  that  the  downfall  of  the 
Stuarts  might  affect  its  monopoly  and  in  1697  had 
applied  for  the  confirmation  of  its  charter  by  Parlia- 
ment. Against  this  plea,  London  fur  buyers  filed  a 
counter  petition:  (i)  It  was  too  arbitrary  a  charter 
to  be  granted  to  private  individuals.  (2)  It  was  of 
no  advantage  to  the  public  but  a  mere  stockjobbing 
concern,  £100  worth  of  stock  selling  as  high  as  ;!^3oo, 
£30  as  high  as  ;£2oo.  (3)  Beaver  purchased  in  Hud- 
son Bay  for  6d  sold  in  London  for  6s.  (4)  Monopoly 
drove  the  Indians  to  trade  with  the  French.  (5)  The 
charter  covered  too  much  territory. 

To  which  the  Company  made  answer  that  not 
£1,000  of  stock  had  changed  hands  in  the  last  year, 
which  was  doubtless  true;  for  '97  was  the  year  of  the 
great  defeat.  The  climate  would  always  prevent  set- 
tlement in  Hudson  Bay,  and  most  important  of  all — 
England  would  have  lost  all  that  region  but  for  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.  In  its  mood  at  the  time, 
that  was  a  telling  argument  with  the  English  Parlia- 


First  Attempt  of  the  Adventurers  to  Explore 

ment.  Negotiations  were  in  progress  with  France 
for  a  permanent  treaty  of  peace.  If  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  were  dissolved,  to  whom  would  all  the 
region  revert  but  to  those  already  in  possession — 
the  French?  And  if  the  impending  war  broke  out, 
who  would  defend  the  bay  from  the  French  but  the 
Company? 

By  act  of  Parliament,  the  charter  of  the  English 
Adventurers  was  confirmed  for  a  period  of  seven 
years.  And  more — when  an  act  was  passed  in  1 708 
to  encourage  trade  to  America,  a  proviso  was  inserted 
that  the  territory  of  the  Company  should  not  be 
included  in  the  freedom  of  trade. 

From  the  time  France  was  beaten  in  the  continental 
wars,  the  English  Adventurers  never  ceased  to  press 
their  claims  against  France  for  the  restoration  of  all 
posts  on  Hudson  Bay  and  the  payment  of  damages 
varying  in  amount  from  ;^2oo,ooo  to  ;^ioo,504. 
Memorials  were  presented  to  King  William,  me- 
morials to  Queen  Anne.  Sir  Stephen  Evance,  the 
goldsmith,  who  had  become  a  heavy  shareholder 
through  taking  stock  in  payment  for  his  ships  char- 
tered to  the  bay — had  succeeded  Marlborough  as 
governor  in  1692,  but  the  great  general  was  still  a 
friend  at  Court,  and  when  Evance  retired  in  1696, 
Sir  William  Trumbull,  Secretary  of  State,  became 
governor.    Old  Governor  Knight  came  from  Albany 

289 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

on  the  bay,  in  1700,  to  go  to  France  with  Sir  Bibye 
Lake  and  Marlborough  to  press  the  claims  of  the 
English  fur  traders  against  France.  For  the  double 
claims  of  restoration  and  damages,  France  offered 
to  trade  all  the  posts  on  the  south  shore  for  all  the 
posts  on  the  west  shore.  The  offer  was  but  a  parley 
for  better  terms.  Both  English  and  French  fur 
traders  knew  that  the  best  furs  came  from  the  west 
posts.  Negotiations  dragged  on  to  1710.  It  was 
subterraneously  conveyed  to  the  English  fur  traders 
that  France  would  yield  on  one  point,  but  not  on 
both:  they  could  have  back  the  bay  but  not  the  in- 
demnity; or  the  indemnity  but  not  the  bay.  The 
English  fur  traders  subterraneously  conveyed  to  the 
commissioners  in  Holland,  that  they  would  accept  the 
restoration  of  the  bay  and  write  off  the  indemnity 
bill  of  £100,000  as  bad  debts.  Such  was  the  Peace 
of  Utrecht,  17 13,  as  it  affected  the  fate  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company. 

One  point  was  left  unsettled  by  the  treaty.  Where 
was  the  boundary  between  bushrangers  of  New 
France  working  north  from  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
the  voyageurs  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  work- 
ing south  from  James  Bay?  A  dozen  different 
propositions  were  made,  but  none  accepted.  The 
dispute  came  as  a  heritage  to  modern  days  when 
Quebec  and  Ontario  wrangled  out  their  boundaries, 

290 


First  Attempt  oj  the  Adrenlurcr.s  to  J'^.rp/orc 

and  Ontario  and  Manitoba  competed  for  Keewatin, 
and  finally  the  new  province  of  Saskatchewan 
disputed  Manitoba  for  a  slice  giving  access  to  a 
seaport  on  Hudson  Bay. 

The  settlement  came  just  in  time  to  save  the  Com- 
pany from  bankruptcy.  The  Adventurers  had  no 
money  to  pay  their  captains.  Grimmington  and 
Smithsend  accepted  pay  of  ;^2oo  apiece  in  bonds. 
Yet  this  same  Company  so  often  accused  of  avarice 
and  tyranny  to  servants  borrowed  money  to  pay  ;^2o 
each  to  the  seamen  surviving  the  terrible  disasters 
of  '97,  and  donated  a  special  gratuity  to  Captain 
Bailey  for  bringing  the  books  of  Nelson  safely  home. 
Sir  Stephen  Evance  became  governor  again  in  1700 
and  transferred  £600  of  his  own  stock  to  Captain 
Knight  as  wages  for  holding  Albany.  Captains 
would  now  accept  engagements  only  on  condition  of 
being  ransomed  if  captured,  at  the  Company's  ex- 
pense; and  no  ship  would  leave  port  without  a 
convoy  of  frigates. 

June  2,  1702,  the  secretary  is  ordered  to  pay  the 
cost  of  making  a  scarlet  coat  with  lace,  for  N'epa- 
nah-tay,  the  Indian  chief,  come  home  with  Captain 
Grimmington. 

November  5,  1703,  Captain  Knight  is  ordered  to 
take  care  of  the  little  Indian  girl  brought  home  by 
Captain  Grimmington.    It  is  ordered  at  the  same 

291 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

time  that  tradesmen's  bills  shall  be  paid  "as  long  as 
the  money  lasts,"  but  that  seamen's  wages  be  paid 
up  to  date.  Orders  are  also  issued  for  the  gunsmith 
"to  stamp  no  barrell  nor  locks  with  ye  compy's 
marker  that  are  not  in  every  way  good  and  perfect." 
Henry  Kelsey  is  now  employed  at  ;^ioo  per  annum 
either  "to  go  up  country" — meaning  inland — or 
across  to  East  Main  (Labrador).  When  Mike 
Grimmington  is  not  on  the  bay  in  his  frigate,  he  is 
sent  to  Russia  with  beaver,  bringing  back  cargoes 
of  leather.  Fullerton  takes  Knight's  place  at  Albany, 
with  a  scale  of  wages  running  from  £io  to  ;£i6  a  year 
for  apprentices  with  a  gratuity  of  20s  a  month  if 
they  prove  worthy;  and  to  Fullerton  and  the  cap- 
tains of  the  vessels  are  sent  twenty-three  hogsheads 
of  liquor  to  keep  up  their  courage  against  the  French 
in  1 7 10.  Outward  bound  the  same  year,  Mike  Grim- 
mington, the  veteran  of  a  hundred  raids,  falls  des- 
perately ill.  Like  the  Vikings  of  the  North,  he  will 
not  turn  back.  If  vanquished,  he  will  be  vanquished 
with  face  to  foe.  So  he  meets  his  Last  Foe  at  sea, 
and  is  vanquished  of  Death  on  June  15 — within  a 
few  weeks  of  Radisson's  death — and  is  buried  at 
Harwich.  Learning  the  news  by  coureur,  the  Govern- 
ing Committee  promptly  vote  his  widow,  Anne,  a  gift 
of  ;!^ioo  and  appoints  the  son,  Mike  Grimmington, 
Jr.,  an  apprentice.     Sir  Bibye  Lake,  who  had  helped 

292 


First  Attempt  of  the  Adventurers  to  Explore 

to  secure  the  favorable  terms  of  the  peace  treaty,  is 
voted  governor  in  17 13. 

In  no  year  at  this  period  did  the  sales  of  furs  exceed 
£100,000  but  big  cargoes  are  beginning  to  come  in 
again,  and  the  Company  is  able  to  declare  a  dividend 
of  10  per  cent,  in  17 18.  Before  the  French  war,  the 
forts  had  been  nothing  but  a  cluster  of  cabins  pali- 
saded .  Now  the  Adventurers  determine  to  strengthen 
their  posts.  For  the  time,  Rupert  and  Severn  are 
abandoned,  but  stone  bastions  are  built  in  17 18  at 
Moose  and  Albany  and  Nelson  (now  known  as  York) 
and  Churchill.  Inland  from  Albany,  Henley  House 
is  garrisoned  against  the  French  overlanders.  At 
East  Main  on  Slude  River  a  fort  is  knocked  together 
of  driftwood  and  bowlder  and  lime. 

In  spite  of  increased  wages  and  peace,  the  Adven- 
turers have  great  difficulty  procuring  servants.  The 
war  has  made  known  the  real  perils  of  the  service. 
Mr.  Ramsay  is  employed  in  1707  and  Captain  John 
Merry  in  171 2  to  go  to  the  Orkneys  for  servants — 
fourteen  able-bodied  seamen  in  the  former  year,  forty 
in  the  latter,  and  for  the  first  time  there  come  into 
the  history  of  the  Northwest  the  names  of  those, 
Orkney  families,  whose  lives  are  really  the  record 
of  the  great  domain  to  which  they  gave  their  strength 
—the  Belchers  and  Gunns,  and  the  Carruthers,  and 
the  Bannisters,  and  the  Isbisters  and  the  Baileys, 

293 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

generation  after  generation,  and  the  Mackenzies, 
and  the  Clarkes  and  the  Gwynnes's.  Some  came  as 
clerks,  some  as  gunners,  some  as  bush-lopers.  The 
lowest  wage  was  12s  a  month  with  a  gratuity  of  £2 
on  signing  the  contract.  But  this  did  not  suffice  to 
bring  recruits  fast  enough  for  the  expanding  work 
of  the  Company,  and  there  comes  jauntily  on  the 
scene,  in  171 1,  Mr.  Andrew  Vallentine  of  matrimonial 
fame  with  secret  contracts  to  supply  the  Company 
with  apprentices  if  the  Company  will  supply  the 
dowries  for  the  brides  of  the  said  apprentices.  As 
told  in  a  former  chapter,  "all  proposals  to  be  locked 
up  in  ye  Iron  Chest  in  a  Booke  Aparte.''^  Dr.  Sach- 
everell,  the  famous  divine,  performed  the  marriage 
ceremonies;  and  from  an  item  surreptitiously  smug- 
gled into  the  general  minutes  of  the  Company's 
records  instead  of  "the  Booke  Aparte,"  I  judge  that 
the  marriage  portions  were  on  a  scale  averaging  some 
£70  and  £100  each.  A  Miss  Evance  is  named  as  one 
of  the  brides,  so  that  the  affair  was  no  common  list- 
ing of  women  for  the  marriage  shambles  such  as 
Virginia  and  Quebec  witnessed,  but  a  contract  in 
which  even  a  relative  of  the  Company's  governor  was 
not  ashamed  to  enter.  Business  flourished — as  told 
elsewhere.  The  marriage  office  had  to  have  addi- 
tional apartments  in  "  the  Buttery "  until  about 
1735,  when  lawsuits  and  the  death  of  Mr.  Vallentine 

294 


First  Attempt  of  the  Adventurers  to  Explore 

caused  a  summary  shutting  down  of  the  enterprise. 
It  had  accompHshed  its  aim — brought  recruits  to 
the  Company. 

By  1717  Kelsey,  the  aforetime  apprentice,  had 
become  governor  of  Churchill  at  ;^2oo  a  year.  One 
William  Stewart  and  another  apprentice,  Richard 
Norton,  were  sent  inland  from  Churchill  to  explore 
and  make  peace  between  the  tribes.  How  far  north 
they  proceeded  is  not  known — not  farther  than  Ches- 
terfield Inlet,  where  the  water  ran  with  a  tide  like 
the  sea,  and  the  Indians  by  signs  told  legends  of  vast 
mines.  Kelsey  had  heard  similar  tales  of  mines  over 
on  the  Labrador  coast.  Thomas  Macklish,  who  had 
gone  up  Nelson  River  beyond  Ben  Gillam's  Island, 
heard  similar  tales.  Each  of  these  explorers,  the 
Company  rewarded  with  gratuities  ranging  from  ;^2o 
to  ;^ioo.  There  were  legends,  too,  at  Moose  and 
Rupert  of  great  silver  mines  toward  Temiscamingue 
— the  field  of  the  modern  cobalt  beds. 

The  Company  determined  to  inaugurate  a  policy 
of  search  for  mineral  wealth  and  exploration  for  a 
passage  to  the  South  Sea.  Old  Captain  Knight- 
now  in  his  eighties — had  gone  back  to  the  bay  to  re- 
ceive the  posts  from  the  French  under  Jeremie.  He 
had  returned  to  England  and  was,  in  17 18,  ordered 
on  a  voyage  of  exploration.  He  demanded  stiff 
terms  for  the  arduous  task.    His  salary  was  to  be 

295 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

£400  per  annum.  He  was  to  have  one-tenth  profit 
of  all  minerals  discovered  and  all  new  trade  estab- 
lished, which  was  not  in  furs,  such  as  whale  hunting 
and  fishing.  He  was  to  be  allowed  to  accept  such 
presents  from  the  evacuating  French  as  he  saw  fit, 
and  was  not  to  be  compelled  to  winter  on  the  bay. 
The  contract  was  for  four  years  with  the  proviso  in 
case  of  Knight's  death,  Henry  Kelsey  was  to  be 
governor  of  all  the  bay.  With  a  Greenland  schooner 
and  a  yawl  for  inland  waters,  Knight  set  sail  on  the 
frigates  bound  from  England,  hopes  high  as  gold 
miners  stampeding  to  a  new  field. 


Notes  on  Chapter  XV . — The  Sandford  first  sent  inland  from 
Albany  was  a  relative  of  Captain  Gillam  and  was  at  one  time 
put  on  the  lists  for  dismissal  owing  to  Ben  Gillam's  poaching. 

Robson  casts  doubt  on  Kelsey  having  gone  inland  from 
Nelson,  but  Robson  was  writing  in  a  mood  of  spite  toward  his 
former  employers.  The  reasons  given  for  his  doubt  are  two- 
fold: (i)  Kelsey  could  not  have  gone  five  hundred  miles  in 
sixty  days;  (2)  in  the  dry  season  of  July,  Kelsey  could  not  have 
followed  any  Indian  trail.  Both  objections  are  absurd.  Forty 
miles  a  day  is  not  a  high  average  for  a  good  woodsman  or  canoe- 
man.  As  to  following  a  trail  in  July,  the  very  fact  that  the 
grass  was  so  brittle,  made  it  easy  to  follow  recent  tracks.  Night 
camp  fire  and  the  general  direction  of  the  land  would  be  guides 
enough  for  a  good  pathfinder,  let  alone  the  crumpled  grasses 
left  behind  a  horde  of  wandering  Indians. 

Kelsey's  Journal  is  to  be  found  in  the  Parliamentary  Report 
of  1749.  At  the  time,  it  was  handed  over  to  Parliament,  it  was 
taken  from  Hudson's  Bay  House,  and  is  no  longer  in  the  records 
of  the  Company.  The  exact  itinerary  of  the  journey,  I  do  not 
attempt  to  give.  Each  reader,  especially  in  the  West,  can 
guess  at  it  for  himself. 

It  is  about  this  time  that  Port  Nelson  became  known  as 
York,  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  York,  former  governor.     Hereto- 

296 


First  Attempt  of  the  Adventurers  to  Explore 


fore,   dispatches    were  headed  "Nelson."     Now,   they  are  ad- 
dressed to  "York." 

The  account  of  French  occupation  is  to  be  found  in  French 
Marine  Archives  and  in  the  Relation  of  Jeremie,  Bernard's  Voy- 
ages. 

Governor  Knight  paid  ^£277  to  the  French  for  provisions  left 
at  Nelson.  It  was  the  cargo  of  furs  he  sent  home  in  1714  that 
enabled  the  Company  to  pay  its  long-standing  debts  and  declare 
a  dividend  by  17 18. 

As  York  may  soon  be  Manitoba's  seaport,  it  is  worth  noting 
that  in  1715  Captain  Davies  spent  the  entire  summer  beating 
about  and  failed  to  enter  Hayes  River  for  the  ice.  For  this 
failure,  he  was  severely  reprimanded  by  the  Company. 

In  1695  the  lease  was  signed  for  thirty-five  years  for  the 
premises  on  Fenchurch  Street,  occupied  till  the  Company  moved 
to  present  quarters  in  Lime  Street. 

The  first  map  of  the  bay  drawn  for  the  Company  was  executed 
in  1684,  by  John  Thornton,  for  which  he  was  paid  £4. 

It  was  in  1686  that  the  famous  Jan  P^r^,  the  spy,  was  dis- 
charged from  prison  and  escaped  to  France. 

All  trace  of  young  Chouart  is  lost  after  1689,  when  he  came  to 
London  from  Nelson. 


297 


CHAPTER  XVI 

I 7 19-1740 

OLD  CAPTAIN  KNIGHT  BESET  BY  GOLD  FEVER,  HEARS 
THE  CALL  OF  THE  NORTH — THE  STRAITS  AND 
BAY — THE  FIRST  HARVEST  OF  THE  SEA  AT  DEAD 
man's  ISLAND — CASTAWAYS  FOR  THREE  YEARS 
— THE  COMPANY  BESET  BY  GOLD  FEVER  IN- 
CREASES ITS  STOCK — PAYS  TEN  PER  CENT.  ON 
TWICE-TREBLED  CAPITAL  —  COMING  OF  SPIES 
AGAIN 

FROM  the  time  of  the  first  voyage  up  to  Church- 
ill River,  in  1686,  the  fur  traders  had  noticed 
tribes  of  Indians  from  the  far  North,  who 
wore  ornaments  of  almost  pure  copper.  Chunks  of 
metal,  that  melted  down  to  lead  with  a  percentage 
of  silver,  were  brought  down  to  the  fur  post  at  Slude 
River  in  Labrador  on  the  east  side  of  the  bay.  Vague 
tales  were  told  by  the  wandering  Eskimo  and  Chip- 
pewyans  at  Churchill  of  a  vast  copper  mine  some- 
where on  that  river  now  known  as  Coppermine,  and 
of  a  metal  for  which  the  Indians  had  no  name  but 
which  white  man's  avidity  quickly  recognized  as  gold 
dust  coming  from  the  far  northern  realms  of  iceberg 

298 


Old  Captain  Knight  Beset  by  Gold  Fever 

and  frost  known  as  Baffin's  Land.  How  true  some 
of  these  legends  were  has  been  proved  by  the  great 
cobalt  mines  of  modern  Ontario  and  placers  of 
Alaska.  But  where  lies  the  hidden  treasure  trove 
from  which  the  Indians  brought  down  copper  to 
Churchill,  silver  to  Slude  River,  and  gold  dust^if 
gold  it  was— from  the  snowy  realm  of  the  Eskimo  in 
the  North?  Those  treasure  stores  have  not  yet  been 
uncovered,  though  science  has  declared  that  vast 
deposits  of  copper  may  be  found  west  of  Chesterfield 
Inlet,  and  placers  may  at  any  time  be  uncovered  in 
Baffin's  Land. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  charter  had  been  granted  in  the 
first  place  for  ''the  discovery  of  a  passage  to  the  South 
Sea."  At  this  time,  there  was  great  agitation  in 
Russia  for  the  discovery  of  the  Straits  of  Anian,  that 
were  supposed  to  lead  through  America  from  Asia  to 
Europe.  Vitus  Bering's  expedition  to  find  these 
straits  resulted  in  Russia's  discovery  of  Alaska. 

The  English  Adventurers  now  kept  agents  in 
Russia.  They  were  aware  of  the  projects  in  the  air 
at  the  Russian  Court.  Why  not  combine  the  search 
for  the  passage  to  the  South  Sea  with  the  search  for 
the  hidden  mines  of  Indian  legends?  Besides — the 
Company  had  another  project  in  the  air.  Richard 
Norton,  the  apprentice  boy,  had  gone  overland  north 
from  Churchill  almost  as  far  as  Chesterfield  Inlet. 

299 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Chesterfield  Inlet  seemed  to  promise  the  passage  to 
the  South  Sea;  but  what  was  more  to  the  point — 
the  waters  in  this  part  of  the  bay  offered  great  oppor- 
tunities for  whale  fisheries.  With  the  threefold 
commission  of  discovering  mines,  the  passage  to  the 
South  Sea,  and  a  whale  fishery,  old  Captain  Knight 
sailed  from  Gravesend  on  June  3,  17 19,  "50  God  send 
the  good  ships  a  sticcessftd  Discovery  and  to  return  in 
safety — your  loving  friends  ^^ — ran  the  words  of  the 
commission. 

Four  ships  there  were  in  the  fleet  that  sailed  this 
year:  The  Mary,  frigate,  under  Captain  Belcher, 
with  Mike  Grimmington,  Jr.,  now  chief  mate,  a  crew 
of  eighteen  and  a  passenger  list  of  new  servants  for 
York  and  Churchill,  among  them  Henry  Kelsey, 
to  be  governor  during  Knight's  absence  from 
Churchill;  the  frigate  Hudson's  Bay  under  Cap- 
tain Ward,  with  twenty-three  passengers  for  the 
south  end  of  the  bay;  and  the  two  ships  for  Knight's 
venture:  The  Discovery,  Captain  Vaughan;  The 
Albany,  Captain  Bailey,  with  fifty  men,  all  told, 
bound  for  the  unknown  North,  the  three  men,  Ben- 
jamin Fuller,  David  Newman  and  John  Awdry 
going  as  lieutenants  to  Captain  Knight.  Henry 
Kelsey  had  left  his  wife  in  London.  Each  of  the 
captains  had  given  bonds  of  ;^2,ooo  to  obey  Knight 
in  all  things. 

3CX) 


Old  Captain  Knicjht  Beset  fjy  Gold  Fever 

Knight  himself  is  now  eighty  years  of  age — an 
old  war  horse  limbering  up  to  battle  at  the  smell  of 
powder  smoke — his  ships  loaded  with  iron-hooped 
treasure  casks  to  carry  back  the  gold  dust.  The 
complete  frames  of  houses  are  carried  to  build  a  post 
in  the  North,  and  among  his  fifty  men  are  iron  forgers, 
armorers,  whalers  from  Dundee,  and  a  surgeon  paid 
the  unusual  salary  of  ;^5o  a  year  on  account  of  the 
extraordinary  dangers  of  this  voyage.  Bailey  was 
probably  the  son  of  that  Bayly,  who  was  first  gov- 
ernor for  the  Adventurers  on  the  bay.  A  seasoned 
veteran,  he  had  passed  through  the  famous  siege  of 
Nelson  in  '97.  When  Knight  had  left  Albany  to 
come  to  England,  Fullerton  was  deputy  and  Bailey 
next  in  command.  There  was  peace  with  France, 
but  that  had  not  prevented  a  score  of  French  raiders 
coming  overland  to  ambush  the  English.  Bailey  got 
wind  of  the  raiders  hiding  in  the  woods  round  Albany 
and  shutting  gates,  bided  his  time.  Word  was  sent  to 
the  mate  of  his  ship  lying  off  shore,  at  the  sound  of  a 
cannon  shot  to  rush  to  the  rescue.  At  midnight  a 
thunderous  hammering  on  the  front  gates  summoned 
the  English  to  surrender.  Bailey  gingerly  opened 
the  wicket  at  the  side  of  the  gate  and  asked  what  was 
wanted. 

"Entrance,"  yelled  the  raiders,  confident  that 
they  had  taken  the  English  by  surprise. 

301 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Bailey  answered  that  the  Governor  was  asleep, 
but  he  would  go  and  fetch  the  keys.  The  raiders 
rallied  to  the  gate.  Bailey  put  the  match  lighters  to 
the  six-pounders  inside  and  let  fly  simultaneous 
charges  across  the  platform  where  the  raiders  crowded 
against  the  gate.  There  was  instant  slaughter,  a 
wild  yell,  and  a  rush  for  cover  in  the  woods,  but  the 
cannon  shot  had  brought  the  master  of  Bailey's  sloop 
running  ashore.  Raiders  and  sailors  dashed  into 
each  other's  faces,  with  the  result  that  the  crew  were 
annihilated  in  the  dark.  For  some  days  the  raiders 
hung  about  the  outskirts  of  the  woods,  burying  the 
dead,  waiting  for  the  wounded  to  heal,  and  hunting 
for  food.  A  solitary  Frenchman  was  observed  parad- 
ing the  esplanade  in  front  of  the  fort.  Fullerton 
came  out  and  demanded  what  he  wanted.  The 
fellow  made  no  answer  but  continued  his  solitary 
march  up  and  down  under  the  English  guns.  Fuller- 
ton  offered  to  accept  him  as  a  hostage  for  the  others' 
good  conduct,  but  the  man  was  mute  as  stone.  The 
English  governor  bade  him  be  off,  or  he  would  be 
shot.  The  strange  raider  continued  his  odd  tramp 
up  and  down  till  a  shot  from  the  fort  window  killed 
him  instantly.  The  only  explanation  of  the  incident 
was  that  the  man  must  have  been  crazed  by  the 
hardship  of  the  raid  and  by  the  horrors  of  the  mid- 
night slaughter. 

302 


Old  Captain  Knight  Beset  by  Gold  Fever 

Bailey,  then,  was  the  man  chosen  as  the  captain 
of  The  Albany  and  Knight's  right-hand  man. 

The  ships  were  to  keep  together  till  they  reached 
the  entrance  of  the  straits,  the  two  merchantmen 
under  Ward  and  Belcher  then  to  go  forward  to  the 
fur  posts,  Knight's  two  ships  straight  west  for  Ches- 
terfield Inlet,  where  he  was  to  winter.  Two  guineas 
each,  the  Adventurers  gave  the  crews  of  each  ship 
that  afternoon  on  June  3,  at  Gravesend,  to  drink 
^^  God-speed,  a  prosperous  discovery,  a  jaire  wind, 
and  a  good  sail.^^ 

As  a  railway  is  now  being  actually  built  after  being 
projected  on  paper  for  more  than  twenty-five  years — 
from  the  western  prairie  to  a  seaport  on  Hudson 
Bay,  which  has  for  its  object  the  diversion  of  Western 
traffic  to  Europe  from  New  York  to  some  harbor  on 
Hudson  Bay,  it  is  necessary  to  give  in  detail  what  the 
archives  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  reveal  about 
this  route.  Hudson  Strait  opens  from  the  Atlantic 
between  Resolution  Island  on  the  north  and  the 
Button  Islands  on  the  south.  From  point  to  point, 
this  end  of  the  strait  is  forty-five  miles  wide.  At  the 
other  end,  the  west  side,  between  Digges'  Island  and 
Nottingham  Island,  is  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles. 
From  east  to  west,  the  straits  are  four  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  long — wider  at  the  east  where  the  south 

303 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

side  is  known  as  Ungava  Bay,  contracting  at  the 
west,  to  the  Upper  Narrows.  The  south  side  of  the 
strait  is  Labrador;  the  north,  Baffin's  Land.  Both 
sides  are  lofty,  rocky,  cavernous  shores  lashed  by  a 
tide  that  rises  in  places  as  high  as  thirty-five  feet  and 
runs  in  calm  weather  ten  miles  an  hour.  Pink 
granite  islands  dot  the  north  shore  in  groups  that 
afford  harborage,  but  all  shores  present  an  adamant 
front,  edges  sharp  as  a  knife  or  else  rounded  hard  to 
have  withstood  and  cut  the  tremendous  ice  jam  of  a 
floating  world  suddenly  contracted  to  forty  miles, 
which  Davis  Strait  pours  down  at  the  east  end  and 
Fox  Channel  at  the  west. 

Seven  hundred  feet  is  considered  a  good-sized  hill ; 
one  thousand  feet,  a  mountain.  Both  the  north  and 
the  south  sides  of  the  straits  rise  two  thousand  feet  in 
places.  Through  these  rock  walls  ice  has  poured 
and  torn  and  ripped  a  way  since  the  ice  age  preced- 
ing history,  cutting  a  great  channel  to  the  Atlantic. 
Here,  the  iron  walls  suddenly  break  to  secluded  silent 
valleys  moss-padded,  snow-edged,  lonely  as  the  day 
Earth  first  saw  light.  Down  these  valleys  pour  the 
clear  streams  of  the  eternal  snows,  burnished  as 
silver  against  the  green,  setting  the  silence  echoing 
with  the  tinkle  of  cataracts  over  some  rock  wall,  or 
filling  the  air  with  the  voice  of  many  waters  at  noon- 
tide thaw.    One  old  navigator — Coates — describes  the 

304 


Old  Captain  Knight  Beset  hi/  Gold  Ferer 


beat  of  the  angry  tide  at  the  rock  base  and  the  silver 
voice  of  the  mountain  brooks,  Uke  the  treble  and  bass 
of  some  great  cathedral  organ  sounding  its  diapason 
to  the  glory  of  God  in  this  peoplcless  wilderness. 

Perhaps  the  kyacks  of  some  solitary  Eskimo, 
lashed  abreast  twos  and  threes  to  prevent  capsizing, 
may  shoot  out  from  some  of  these  bog-covered  val- 
leys like  seabirds;  but  it  is  only  when  the  Eskimos 
happen  to  be  hunting  here,  or  the  ships  of  the  whalers 
and  fur  traders  are  passing  up  and  down — that  there 
is  any  sign  of  human  habitation  on  the  straits. 

Walrus  wallow  on  the  pink  granite  islands  in  huge 
herds.  Polar  bears  flounder  from  iccpan  to  icepan. 
The  arctic  hare,  white  as  snow  but  for  the  great 
bulging  black  eye,  bounds  over  the  bowlders.  Snow 
buntings,  whistling  swans,  snow  geese,  ducks  in 
myriads — flacker  and  clacker  and  hold  solemn  con- 
clave on  the  adjoining  rocks,  as  though  this  were  their 
realm  from  the  beginning  and  for  all  time. 

Of  a  tremendous  depth  are  the  waters  of  the 
straits.  Not  for  nothing  has  the  ice  world  been 
grinding  through  this  narrow  channel  for  billions 
of  years.  No  fear  of  shoals  to  the  mariner.  Fear 
is  of  another  sort.  When  the  ice  is  running  in  a 
whirlpool  and  the  incoming  tide  meets  the  ice  jam 
and  the  waters  mount  thirty-five  feet  high  and  a  wind 
roars  between  the  high  shores  like  a  bellows — then  it 

305 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

is  that  the  straits  roll  and  pitch  and  funnel  their 
waters  into  black  troughs  where  the  ships  go  down. 
"Undertow,"  the  old  Hudson's  Bay  captains  called 
the  suck  of  the  tide  against  the  ice-wall;  and  that 
black  hole  where  the  lumpy  billows  seemed  to  part 
like  a  passage  between  wall  of  ice  and  wall  of  water 
was  what  the  mariners  feared.  The  other  great 
danger  was  just  a  plain  crush,  getting  nipped  between 
two  icepans  rearing  and  plunging  like  fighting  stal- 
lions, with  the  ice  blocks  going  off  like  pistol  shots 
or  smashed  glass.  No  child's  play  is  such  navigat- 
ing either  for  the  old  sailing  vessels  of  the  fur  traders 
or  the  modern  ice-breakers  propelled  by  steam! 
Yet,  the  old  sailing  vessels  and  the  whaling  fleets 
have  navigated  these  straits  for  two  hundred  years. 

Westward  of  the  straits,  the  shores  dropped  to  low, 
sandy  reaches  at  Mansfield  Island.  Another  five 
hundred  miles  across  the  bay  brought  the  ships  to 
Churchill  and  York  (Nelson). 

Here,  then,  came  Captain  Knight's  fleet.  And  the 
terrific  dangers  of  his  venture  met  him — as  it  were — 
on  the  spot.  The  records  do  not  give  the  exact  point 
of  the  disaster,  but  one  may  guess  without  stretching 
imagination  that  it  was  in  the  Upper  Narrows  where 
thirty-five  feet  of  lashing  tide  meet  a  churning  wall  of 
ice. 

The  ships  were  embayed,  sails  lowered,  rudders 
306 


Old  Captain  Knigid  Beset  by  Gold  Fever 

unshipped,  and  anchors  put  out  for  the  night.  Night 
did  not  mean  dark.  It  meant  the  sunlight  aslant  the 
ice  fields  and  pools  in  hues  of  fire  that  tinted  the 
green  waves  and  set  rainbows  playing  in  the  spray. 
Gulls  wheeled  and  screamed  overhead.  Cascades 
tinkled  over  the  ice  walls.  There  was  the  deep  still- 
ness of  twilight  calm,  then  the  quiver  of  the  ship's 
timbers  forewarning  the  rising  tide,  then  the  long, 
low  undertone  of  the  ocean  depths  gathering  might 
to  hurl  against  the  iron  forces  of  the  ice.  The 
crews  had  been  rambling  over  the  ice  but  were  now 
recalled  to  be  on  the  watch  as  the  tide  rose.  Some 
were  at  the  windlass  ready  to  heave  anchors  up  at 
first  opening  of  clear  water;  others  ready  to  lower 
boats  and  tow  from  dangers;  others  again  preparing 
blasts  of  powder  to  blow  up  the  ice  if  the  tide  threat- 
ened to  close  the  floes  in  a  squeeze.  Captain  Ward's 
men  must  have  been  out  on  the  ice,  for  it  happened 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  as  such  wrecks  always 
happened,  and  not  a  man  was  lost.  Two  icepans 
reared  up,  smashed  together,  crushed  the  frigate 
Hudson's  Bay,  like  an  eggshell  and  she  sank  a 
water-logged  wreck  before  their  eyes.  Ward's  crew 
were  at  once  taken  on  board  by  Belcher,  and  when 
the  ice  loosened,  carried  on  down  to  York  and 
Albany.  There  was  a  lawsuit  against  the  Company 
for  the  wages  of  these  men  wrecked  outward  bound 

307 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

and  kept  in  idleness  on  the  bay  for  thirteen  months. 
The  matter  was  compromised  by  the  Company 
paying  ten  months'  wages  instead  of  thirteen. 

Captain  Knight  waited  only  long  enough  at 
Churchill  to  leave  the  fort  provisions.  Then  he  set 
out  on  his  quest  to  the  north.  This  could  scarcely 
be  described  as  foolhardy,  for  his  ships  carried  the 
frames  for  houses  to  winter  in  the  North.  From 
this  point  on,  the  story  must  be  pieced  together  of 
fragments.  From  the  time  Captain  Knight  left 
Churchill,  in  17 19,  his  journal  ceases.  No  line  more 
came  from  the  game  old  pathfinder  to  the  Company. 
The  year  17 19  passed,  1720,  1721,  still  no  word  of 
him.  Surely,  he  must  have  passed  through  the 
Straits  of  Anian  to  the  South  Sea  and  would  presently 
come  home  from  Asia  laden  with  spices  and  gold 
dust  for  the  Company.  But  why  didn't  he  send  back 
one  of  the  little  whaling  boats  to  Churchill  with  word 
of  his  progress;  or  why  didn't  some  of  the  men  come 
down  from  the  whaling  station  he  was  to  establish  at 
Chesterfield  Inlet?  Henry  Kelsey  takes  a  cruise  on 
the  sloop  Prosperous  from  York,  in  17 19,  but  finds 
no  trace  of  him.  Hancock  has  been  cruising  the 
whaling  seas  on  The  Success  that  same  summer,  but 
he  learns  nothing  of  Knight.  The  whole  summer 
of  1 72 1,  while  whaling,  Kelsey  is  on  the  lookout  for 

308 


Old  Captain  Knight  Beset  by  Gold  Fever 


the  peaked  sails  of  Knight's  ships;  but  he  sees 
never  a  sail.  Napper  is  sent  out  again  on  the  sloop 
Success,  but  he  runs  amuck  of  a  reef  four  days  from 
Nelson  River  and  loses  his  ship  and  almost  his  life. 

Three  full  years  were  long  enough  for  Knight  to 
have  circumnavigated  the  globe.  By  172 1,  the  Com- 
pany was  so  thoroughly  alarmed  that  it  bought  Tlie 
Whalebone,  sloop — John  Scroggs,  master — and  sent 
it  from  Gravesend  on  the  31st  of  May  to  search  for 
Knight.  Two  years  Scroggs  searched  the  north- 
west coast  of  the  bay,  but  the  northwest  coast  of 
the  bay  is  one  thousand  miles  in  and  out,  and  Scroggs 
missed  the  hidden  hole-in-the-wall  that  might  have 
given  up  the  secret  of  the  sea.  Norton  traveling 
inland  with  the  Indians  hears  disquieting  stories, 
and  some  whalers  chancing  North,  in  1726,  discover 
a  new  harbor  at  the  bottom  of  which  lie  cannon, 
anchors,  bits  of  iron,  but  it  is  not  till  fifty  years  later 
that  the  story  is  learned  in  detail. 

Here  it  is: 

Knight  steered  for  that  western  arm  of  the  sea 
known  as  Chesterfield  Inlet.  It  was  here  that  Norton 
had  heard  legends  of  copper  mines  and  seen  evi- 
dences of  tide  water.  Just  south  of  Chesterfield 
Inlet  is  a  group  of  white  quartz  islands  the  largest 
five  by  twenty  miles,  known  as  Marble  Island,  from 
the  fact  that  it  is  bare  of  growth  as  a  gravestone. 

309 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Great  Northwest 

Bedford  whalers  of  modern  days  have  called  it  by 
another  name — Dead  Man's  Island. 

At  the  extreme  east  is  a  hole-like  cavity  in  the  rock 
wall  where  Eskimos  were  wont  to  shoot  in  with  their 
bladder  boats  and  hide  from  the  fury  of  the  northeast 
gale.  One  night  as  the  autumn  storms  raged,  the 
Indians  were  amazed  to  see  two  huge  shadows  emerge 
from  the  lashing  hurricane  like  floating  houses — 
driving  straight  as  an  arrow  for  the  mark  to  certain 
destruction  between  an  angry  sea  and  the  rock  wall. 
If  there  were  cries  for  help,  they  were  drowned  by  the 
shrieks  of  the  hurricane.  In  the  morning,  when  the 
storm  had  abated,  the  Indians  saw  that  the  shadows 
had  been  whitemen's  ships.  The  large  one  had 
struck  on  the  reefs  and  sunk.  The  other  was  a  mass 
of  wave-beaten  wreckage  on  the  shore,  but  the  white 
men  were  toiling  like  demons,  saving  the  timbers. 
Presently,  the  whites  began  to  erect  a  framework 
— their  winter  house.  To  the  wondering  Eskimos, 
the  thing  rose  like  magic.  The  Indians  grasped 
their  kyacks  and  fled  in  terror. 

It  need  scarcely  be  told — these  were  Knight's 
treasure-seekers,  wrecked  without  saving  a  pound 
of  provisions  on  an  island  bare  as  a  billiard  ball 
twenty  miles  from  the  mainland.  How  did  the  crews 
pass  that  winter?  Their  only  food  must  have  been 
such  wild  cranberries  as  they  could  gather  under  the 

310 


Old  Captain  Knight  Beset  by  Gold  Fever 

drifting  snows,  arctic  hares,  snowbirds,  perhaps  the 
carcass  of  an  occasional  dead  porpoise  or  whale. 
When  the  Indians  came  back  in  the  summer  of 
1720,  there  were  very  few  whitemen  left,  but  there 
was  a  great  number  of  graves — graves  scooped  out 
of  drift  sand  with  bowlders  for  a  tombstone.  The 
survivors  seemed  to  be  starving.  They  fell  like  wild 
beasts  on  the  raw  seal  meat  and  whale  oil  that  the 
Eskimos  gave  them.  They  seemed  to  be  trying  to 
make  a  boat  out  of  the  driftwood  that  had  been  left 
of  that  winter's  fuel.  The  next  time  the  Eskimos 
visited  the  castaways,  there  were  only  two  men  alive. 
These  were  demented  with  despair,  passing  the  time 
weeping  and  going  to  the  highest  rock  on  the  island 
to  watch  for  a  sail  at  sea.  Their  clothes  had  been 
worn  to  tatters.  They  were  clad  in  the  skins  of  the 
chase  and  looked  like  madmen.  From  the  Indians' 
account,  it  was  now  two  years  from  the  time  of  the 
wreck.  What  ammunition  had  been  saved  from  the 
ships,  must  have  been  almost  exhausted.  How  these 
two  men  kept  life  in  their  bodies  for  two  winters  in 
the  most  bitterly  cold,  exposed  part  of  Hudson  Bay, 
huddling  in  their  snow-buried  hut  round  fires  of 
moss  and  driftwood,  with  the  howling  north  wind 
chanting  the  death  song  of  the  winding  sheet,  and 
the  scream  of  the  hungry  were- wolf  borne  to  their  ears 
in  the  storm— can  better  be  imagined  than  described. 

311 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Why  did  not  they  try  to  escape?  Possibly,  because 
they  were  weakened  by  famine  and  scurvy.  Surely 
Bering's  Russians  managed  better  when  storm  cast 
them  on  a  barren  island  while  they  were  searching 
this  same  mythical  passage.  They  drifted  home  on 
the  wreckage.  Why  could  not  these  men  have  tried 
to  escape  in  the  same  way?  In  the  first  place,  they 
did  not  know  they  were  only  twelve  miles  from  the 
main  coast.  Cast  on  Marble  Island  in  the  storm 
and  the  dark,  they  had  no  idea  where  they  were, 
except  that  it  was  in  the  North  and  in  a  harbor 
facing  east.  Of  the  two  last  survivors,  one  seemed 
to  be  the  armorer,  or  else  that  surgeon  who  was  to 
receive  ;^5o  for  the  extraordinary  dangers  of  this 
voyage,  for  he  was  constantly  working  with  metal 
instruments  to  rivet  the  planks  of  his  raft  to- 
gether. But  he  was  destined  to  perish  as  his  com- 
rades. When  his  companion  died,  the  man  tried  to 
scoop  out  a  grave  in  the  sand.  It  was  too  much  for 
his  strength.  He  fell  as  he  toiled  over  the  grave  and 
died  among  the  Eskimo  tents.  So  perished  Captain 
Knight  and  his  treasure-seekers,  including  the  veteran 
Bailey — as  Hudson  had  perished  before  them — taken 
as  toll  of  man's  progress  by  the  insatiable  sea.  Not 
a  secret  has  been  wrested  from  the  Unknown,  not  a 
milepost  won  for  civilization  from  savagery,  but  some 
life  has  paid  for  the  secret  to  go  down  in  despair 

312 


Old  Captain  Knight  Beset  by  Gold  Fever 

and  defeat;  but  some  bleaching  skeleton  of  a  name- 
less failure  marks  where  the  mile  forward  was  won. 
The  lintel  of  every  doorway  to  advancement  is  ever 
marked  with  some  blood  sacrifice. 

Whalers  in  1726,  saw  the  cannon  and  anchors 
lying  at  the  bottom  of  the  harbor,  also  casks  with  iron 
hoops — that  were  to  bring  back  the  gold  dust. 
Hearne,  in  1769,  could  count  where  the  graves  had 
been  scraped  up  by  the  wolves,  and  he  gathered  up 
the  skeletons  along  the  beach  to  bury  them  in  a  com- 
mon grave.  Latterly,  oddly  enough,  that  island  was 
the  rendezvous  of  Northern  whalers — where  they 
came  from  the  far  North  to  bury  their  dead  and  set 
up  crosses  for  those  who  lie  in  the  sea  without  a 
grave.    It  was  known  as  Dead  Man's  Island. 

After  giving  an  account  of  three  wrecks  in  four 
years,  I  hope  it  may  not  seem  inconsistent  to  say  that 
I  believe  the  next  century  will  see  a  Hudson's  Bay 
route  to  Europe.  What— you  say— after  telling  of 
three  wrecks  in  four  years?  Yes— what  Atlantic  port 
does  not  have  six  wrecks  in  ten  years?  New  York 
and  Montreal  have  more.  If  the  Hudson's  Bay 
route  is  not  fit  for  navigation,  the  country  must  make 
it  fit  for  navigation.  Of  telegraphs,  shelters,  light- 
houses, there  is  not  now  one.  Canals  have  been  dug 
for  less  cause  than  the  Upper  Narrows  of  Hudson 

313 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Straits.  If  Peter  the  Great  had  waited  till  St.  Peters- 
burg was  a  fit  site  for  a  city,  there  would  have  been 
no  St.  Petersburg.  He  made  it  fit.  The  same 
problem  confronts  northwest  America  to-day.  It  is 
absurd  that  a  population  of  millions  has  no  seaport 
nearer  than  two  thousand  miles.  Churchill  or  York 
would  be  seaports  in  the  middle  of  the  continent. 
Of  course,  there  would  be  wrecks  and  difficulties. 
The  wrecks  are  part  of  the  toll  we  pay  jor  harnessing 
the  sea.  The  difficulties  are  what  make  nations  great. 
One  day  was  the  delay  allowed  the  fur  ships  for  the 
straits.  Who  has  not  waited  longer  than  one  day 
to  enter  New  York  harbor  or  Montreal? 

Meanwhile,  moneybags  at  home  were  counting 
their  shekels.  A  wild  craze  of  speculation  was  sweep- 
ing over  England.  It  was  a  fever  of  getting-some- 
thing-for-nothing,  floating  wild  schemes  of  paper 
capital  to  be  sold  to  the  public  for  pounds,  shillings 
and  pence.  In  modern  language  it  would  be  called 
"wild-catting."  The  staid  "old  Worthies" — as  the 
Adventurers  were  contemptuously  designated — were 
caught  by  the  craze.  It  was  decided  on  August  19, 
1720,  to  increase  the  capital  of  the  Company  from 
£31,500  to  £378,000  to  be  paid  for  in  subscriptions 
of  10  per  cent,  installments.  Before  the  scheme  had 
matured,  the  bubble  of  speculation  had  collapsed. 

314 


Old  Captain  Knight  Beset  by  Gold  Fever 

Money  could  neither  be  borrowed  nor  begged.  The 
plan  to  enlarge  the  stock  was  dropped  as  it  stood — 
with  subscriptions  to  the  amount  of  ;;^io3,95o  paid 
in — which  practically  meant  that  the  former  capital 
of  £31,500  had  been  trebled  and  an  additional  10 
per  cent,  levied. 

On  this  twice-trebled  capital  of  ;^io3,95o,  divi- 
dends of  5  per  cent,  were  paid  in  1721 ;  of  8  per  cent, 
in  1722;  of  12  per  cent,  in  1723  and  '24;  of  10  per 
cent,  from  1725  to  1737,  when  the  dividends  fell  to 
8  per  cent,  and  went  up  again  to  10  per  cent,  in  1739. 
From  1723,  instead  of  leaving  the  money  idle  in  the 
strong  box,  it  was  invested  by  the  Company  in  bonds 
that  bore  interest  till  their  ships  came  home.  From 
1735,  the  Bank  of  England  regularly  advanced  money 
for  the  Company's  operations.  Sir  Bibye  Lake  was 
governor  from  the  time  he  received  such  good  terms 
in  the  French  treaty.  The  governor's  salary  is  now 
£200,  the  deputy's  £iSo,  the  committeemen  ;^ioo 
each. 

It  was  in  February,  1724,  that  a  warehouse  was 
leased  in  Lime  Street  at  ;^i2  a  year,  the  present 
home  of  the  Company. 

In  four  years,  the  Company  hnd  lost  four  vessels. 
These  were  replaced  by  four  bigger  frigates,  and 
there  come  into  the  service  the  names  of  captains 
famous  on  Hudson  Bay— Belcher,  and  Goston,  and 

315 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Spurell,  and  Kennedy,  and  Christopher  Middleton, 
and  Coates,  and  Isbister,  with  officers  of  the  names  of 
Inkster,  and  Kipling,  and  Maclish,  and  MacKenzie, 
and  Gunn,  and  Clement.  Twice  in  ten  years,  Cap- 
tain Coates  is  wrecked  in  the  straits,  on  the  26th  of 
June,  1727,  outward  bound  with  all  cargo  and  again 
on  the  frigate  Hudson's  Bay  in  1736,  when  "wg 
sank,^^  relates  Coates,  "less  than  ten  minutes  ajter 
we  were  caught  by  the  ice.''^ 

From  being  an  apprentice  boy  traveling  inland 
to  the  Indians,  Richard  Norton  has  become  governor 
of  Churchill,  with  an  Indian  wife  and  half-Indian 
sons  sent  to  England  for  education.  Norton  receives 
orders,  in  1736,  once  more  to  explore  Chesterfield 
Inlet  where  Knight  had  perished.  Napper  on  The 
Churchill,  sloop,  and  Robert  Crow  on  The  Musquash 
carry  him  up  in  the  summer  of  1737.  Napper  dies 
of  natural  causes  on  the  voyage,  but  Chesterfield 
Inlet  is  found  to  be  a  closed  arm  of  the  sea,  not  a 
passage  to  the  Pacific;  and  widow  Napper  is  voted 
fifty  guineas  from  the  Company.  Kelsey  dies  in  1 7  29, 
and  widow  Kelsey,  too,  is  voted  a  bounty  of  ten 
guineas,  her  boy  to  be  taken  as  apprentice. 

In  1736,  Captain  Middleton  draws  plans  for  the 
building  of  a  fine  new  post  at  Moose  and  of  a  stone 
fort  at  Eskimo  Point,  Churchill,  which  shall  be  the 
strongest  fort  in  America.     The  walls  are  to  be  six- 

316 


Old  Captain  Knight  Beset  by  Gold  Fever 

teen  feet  high  of  solid  stone  with  a  depth  of  twenty- 
four  feet  solid  masonry  at  base.  On  the  point  op- 
posite Eskimo  Cape,  at  Cape  Merry,  named  after 
the  deputy  governor,  are  to  be  blockhouses  ten  feet 
high  with  six  great  guns  mounted  where  watch  is  to  be 
kept  night  and  day. 

Moose  will  send  up  the  supply  of  timber  for 
Churchill,  and  the  Company  sends  from  London 
sixty-eight  builders,  among  whom  is  one  Joseph 
Robson,  Sit  £2^  £L  year,  who  afterward  writes  furious 
attacks  on  the  Company.  Barely  is  Moose  com- 
pleted when  it  is  burned  to  the  ground,  through  the 
carelessness  of  the  cook  spilling  coals  from  his  bake 
oven. 

Two  things,  perhaps,  stirred  the  Company  up  to 
this  unwonted  activity.  Spies  were  coming  overland 
from  St.  Lawrence — French  explorers  working  their 
way  westward,  led  by  La  Verendrye.  ^^We  warn 
you"  the  Company  wrote  to  each  of  its  factors  at  this 
time,  "meet  these  spies  very  civily  hut  do  not  offer 
to  detain  them  and  on  no  account  suffer  such  to  come 
within  the  gates  nor  let  the  servants  converse  with 
them,  and  use  all  legal  methods  to  make  them  depart 
and  he  on  your  guard  not  to  tell  the  company s  secrets." 

Then  in  1740,  came  a  bolt  from  the  blue.  Cap- 
tain Christopher  Middleton,  their  trusted  officer, 
publicly  resigned  from  the  service  to  go  into  the 

317 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

King's  navy  for  the  discovery  of  a  Northwest  Passage 
through  Hudson  Bay. 

Notes  on  Chapter  XVI.— Oi  Baffin's  Land,  Dr.  Bell,  who 
personally  explored  Hudson  Bay  in  1885  for  the  Dominion  Gov- 
ernment, says:  "These  ancient  grounds  probably  contain  rich 
Slacer  gold  m  the  valleys  of  the  streams."  The  mica  mines  of 
affin's  Land  were  being  mined  in  1906. 

The  name  of  the  captain,  who  perished  with  Knight,  is  our 
friend  Bailey  of  the  Iberville  siege;  not  Barlow,  as  all  modern 
histories  copying  from  Hearne  and  1749  Pari.  Report  give. 
The  minutes  of  the  H.  B.  C.  show  that  Barlow  is  a  misprint  for 
Berley,  and  Berley  for  Bailey,  which  name  is  given  repeatedly 
in  the  minutes  in  connection  with  this  voyage. 

The  account  of  Bering's  efforts  to  find  the  Straits  of  Anian 
and  of  his  similar  fate  will  be  found  in  "Vikings  of  the  Pacific." 

All  the  printed  accounts  of  Knight's  disaster  say  he  win- 
tered at  Churchill  in  1719-20.  This  is  wrong,  as  shown  by  the 
unprinted  records  of  H.  B.  C.  He  sailed  at  once  for  the  North. 
All  printed  accounts — except  Hearne's — give  the  place  of  dis- 
aster as  the  west  end  of  Marble  Island.  This  is  a  mistake.  It 
was  at  the  east  end  as  given  in  the  French  edition  of  Hearne. 
Hearne  it  is,  who  gives  the  only  account  of  Bailey's  defense  of 
Albany  in  1704,  only  Hearne  calls  Bailey,  Barlow,  which  the 
records  show  to  be  wrong. 

An  almost  parallel  wreck  to  that  of  Knight's  took  place  at 
Gull  Island  off  Newfoundland  twenty-five  years  ago.  A  whole 
shipload  of  castaways  perished  on  a  barren  island  in  sight  of 
their  own  harbor  lights,  only  in  the  case  of  Gull  Island,  the 
castaways  did  not  survive  longer  than  a  few  weeks.  They  lived 
under  a  piece  of  canvas  and  subsisted  on  snow-water. 

It  was  not  till  1731  that  Knight's  Journals  as  left  at  Churchill 
were  sent  home  to  London.     They  cease  at  17 19. 

Richard  Norton  first  went  North  by  land  in  171S.  His  next 
trip  was  after  Knight's  death;  his  next,  by  boat  as  told  in  this 
chapter. 

In  1723,  Samuel  Hopkins  was  sent  home  in  irons  from  Albany 
for  three  times  absconding  over  the  walls  to  the  woods  without 
Governor  Myatt's  leave.  Examined  by  the  committee,  he 
would  give  no  excuse  and  was  publicly  dismissed  with  loss  of 


Old  Captain  Knight  Beset  by  Gold  Fever 


wages.  Examined  later  privately,  he  was  re-engaeed  with 
honor — which  goes  to  prove  that  Myatt  may  have  been  one 
of  those  governors,  who  ruled  his  men  with  the  thick  end  of  an 
oar. 

At  this  period,  servants  for  the  first  time  were  allowed  to  go 
to  the  woods  to  trap  and  were  given  one  half  the  proceeeds  of 
their  hunt. 


319 


CHAPTER  XVII 

I 740-1 770 

THE  company's  PROSPERITY  AROUSES  OPPOSITION — 
ARTHUR  DOBBS  AND  THE  NORTHWEST  PASSAGE 
AND  THE  ATTACK  ON  THE  CHARTER — NO  NORTH- 
WEST PASSAGE  IS  FOUND  BUT  THE  FRENCH  SPUR 
THE  ENGLISH  TO  RENEWED  ACTIVITY 

FOR  fifty  years,  the  Company  had  been  paying 
dividends  that  never  went  lower  than  7  per 
cent,  and  generally  averaged  10.  These 
dividends  were  on  capital  that  had  been  twice  trebled. 
The  yearly  fur  sales  yielded  from  ;^2o,ooo  to  ;^3o,ooo 
to  the  Adventurers — twice  and  three  times  the  orig- 
inal capital,  which — it  must  be  remembered — was 
not  all  subscribed  in  cash.  French  hunters  had  been 
penetrating  America  from  the  St.  Lawrence.  Bering 
had  discovered  Alaska  on  the  west  for  Russia.  La 
Verendrye  had  discovered  the  great  inland  plains 
between  the  Saskatchewan  and  the  Missouri,  for 
France.  It  was  just  beginning  to  dawn  on  men's 
minds  what  a  vast  domain  lay  between  the  planta- 
tions of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and  the  Western  Sea. 
It  was  inevitable  that  men  should  ask  themselves 

320 


The  Company's  Prosperity  Arouses  Opposition 

whether  Charles  11.  had  any  right  to  deed  away  for- 
ever that  vast  domain  to  those  court  favorites  and 
their  heirs  known  as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
To  be  sure,  Parliament  had  confirmed  the  charter 
when  the  Stuart  House  fell;  but  the  charter  had 
been  confirmed  for  only  seven  years.  Those  seven 
years  had  long  since  expired,  and  the  original  stock 
of  the  fur  company  had  passed  from  the  heirs 
of  the  original  grantees  to  new  men — stock  specu- 
lators and  investors.  With  the  exception  of  royalty, 
there  was  not  a  single  stockholder  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  by  1740,  who  was  an  heir  of  the  orig- 
inal men  named  in  the  original  charter.  Men  asked 
themselves — had  these  stockholders  any  right  to  hold 
monopoly  against  all  other  traders  over  a  western 
domain  the  size  of  half  Europe?  The  charter  had 
been  granted  in  the  first  place  as  a  reward  for  efforts 
to  find  passage  to  the  South  Sea.  What  had  the 
Company  done  to  find  a  passage  to  the  Pacific? 
Sent  Knight  and  his  fifty  men  hunting  gold  sands  in 
the  North,  where  they  perished;  and  dispatched 
half  a  dozen  little  sloops  north  of  Chesterfield  Inlet 
to  hunt  whales.  This  had  the  Adventurers  done  to 
earn  their  charter,  and  ever  since  sat  snugly  at  home 
drawing  dividends  on  twice-trebled  capital  equal 
to  90  per  cent,  on  the  original  stock,  intrenched 
behind  the  comfortable  feudal  notion  that  it  was 

321 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  manifest  design  of  an  All  Wise  Providence  to 
create  this  world  for  the  benefit  of  the  few  who  can 
get  on  top  and  exploit  the  many  to  the  profit  of  the 
aforesaid  few. 

We,  whose  modern  democracy  is  working  ten- 
fold worse  injustice  by  favors  to  the  few  against  the 
many,  must  have  a  care  how  we  throw  stones  at  that 
old  notion.  Feudalism  in  the  history  of  the  race — 
had  its  place.  It  was  the  system  by  which  the 
bravest  man  led  the  clan  and  ruled  because  he  was 
fittest  to  rule  as  well  as  to  protect.  Of  all  those 
rivals  now  yelping  enviously  at  the  Company's  privi- 
leges— which  could  point  to  an  ancestor,  who  had 
been  willing  to  brave  the  perils  of  a  first  essay  to 
Hudson  Bay?  We  have  seen  how  even  yet  the 
Company  could  obtain  servants  only  by  dint  of 
promising  bounties  and  wives  and  dowries;  how  the 
men  under  command  of  the  first  navigators  balked 
and  reared  and  mutinied  at  the  slightest  risk;  how — 
in  spite  of  all  we  can  say  against  feudalism — it  was 
the  spirit  of  feudalism,  the  spirit  of  the  exclusive 
favored  few,  that  faced  the  first  risks  and  bought 
success  by  willing,  reckless  death,  and  later  fought 
like  demons  to  hold  the  bay  against  France. 

It  was  one  Arthur  Dobbs,  a  gentleman  and  scholar, 
who  voiced  the  general  sentiment  rising  against  the 

322 


le  Company's  Prosperity  Arouses  Opposition 

privileges  of  the  Company.  Dobbs  had  been  bitten 
by  that  strange  mania  which  had  lured  so  many  and 
was  yet  to  lure  more  brave  seamen  to  their  death. 
He  was  sure  there  was  a  Northwest  Passage,  Granted 
that;  and  the  sins  of  the  fur  traders  became  enormi- 
ties. Either  they  had  not  earned  their  charter  by 
^searching  the  Northwest  Passage,  or  if  they  had 
found  it,  they  had  kept  the  discovery  a  secret  through 
jealousy  of  their  trade.  Dobbs  induced  the  Ad- 
miralty to  set  aside  two  vessels  for  the  search.  Then 
he  persuaded  Captain  Middleton,  who  had  for 
twenty  years  navigated  Hudson  Bay,  to  resign  the 
service  of  the  Company  and  lead  the  government 
expedition  of  1 741-2. 

Around  this  expedition  raged  a  maelstrom  of  ill 
feeling  and  false  accusations  and  lies.  The  Com- 
pany were  jealous  of  their  trade  and  almost  instantly 
instructed  their  Governing  Committee  to  take  secret 
means  to  prevent  this  expedition  causing  encroach- 
ment on  their  rights.  This  only  aroused  the  fury  of 
the  Admiralty.  The  Company  were  given  to  under- 
stand that  if  they  did  not  do  all  they  could  to  facili- 
tate Middleton' s  search,  they  might  lose  their 
charter.  On  this,  the  Company  ordered  their  factors 
on  the  bay  to  afford  Middleton  every  aid,  but  judging 
from  the  factors'  conduct,  it  may  be  surmised  that 
secret  instructions  of  another  nature  were  sent  out, 

323 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

When  Middleton  came  to  Churchill  in  July  on 
The  Furnace  Bomb  and  Discovery,  he  found  buoys 
cut,  harbor  lights  out  and  a  governor  mad  as  a 
hornet,  who  forbade  the  searchers  to  land,  or  have 
any  intercourse  with  the  Indians.  Taking  two 
Indians  as  guides,  Middleton  proceeded  north  as 
far  as  66° — in  the  region  of  Rowe's  Welcome  beyond 
Chesterfield  Inlet.  Here,  he  was  utterly  blocked  by 
the  ice,  and  the  expedition  returned  to  England  a 
failure. 

It  was  at  this  point  the  furor  arose.  It  was 
charged  that  the  Company  had  bribed  Middleton 
with ;^5, GOO  not  to  find  a  passage;  that  he  had  sailed 
east  instead  of  west ;  that  he  had  cast  the  two  Indian 
guides  adrift  at  Marble  Island  with  scant  means  of 
reaching  the  main  shore  alive ;  and  that  while  winter- 
ing in  Churchill  he  had  been  heard  to  say,  ''That 
the  Company  need  not  be  uneasy,  for  if  he  did  find 
a  passage,  no  one  on  earth  would  be  a  bit  the  wiser." 
The  quarrel,  which  set  England  by  the  ears  for  ten 
years  and  caused  a  harvest  of  bitter  pamphlets  that 
would  fill  a  small  library — need  not  be  dealt  with 
here. 

Middleton  knew  there  was  no  passage  for  com- 
mercial purpose.  That  the  Admiralty  accepted  his 
verdict  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  he  was 
permanently  appointed  in  the  king's  service ;    but 

324 


The  Company's  Prosperity  Arouses  Opposition 

Dobbs  was  not  satisfied.  He  hurled  baseless  charges 
at  Middleton,  waged  relentless  pamphlet  war  against 
the  Company  and  showered  petitions  on  Parliament. 
Parliament  was  persuaded  to  offer  a  reward  of 
£20,000  to  any  one  finding  a  passage  to  the  Pacific. 
Dobbs  then  formed  an  opposition  company,  opened 
subscriptions  for  a  capital  of  £10,000  in  one  hundred 
shares  of  £100  each  for  a  second  expedition,  and 
petitioned  the  king  for  a  grant  of  all  lands  found 
adjacent  to  the  waters  discovered,  with  the  rights 
oj  exclusive  trade.  Exclusive  trade!  There — the 
secret  was  out — the  cloven  hoof!  It  was  not  because 
they  had  not  earned  their  charter,  that  the  Adven- 
turers had  been  assailed;  but  because  rivals,  them- 
selves, wanted  rights  to  exclusive  trade.  To  these 
petitions,  the  Company  showered  back  counter- 
memorials;  and  memorials  of  special  privileges  be- 
coming the  fashion,  other  merchants  of  London,  in 
1752,  asked  for  the  grant  of  all  Labrador;  to  which 
the  Company  again  registered  its  counter-memorial. 

The  furor  materialized  in  two  things:  the  expedi- 
tion of  the  Dobbs  Company  to  find  the  Northwest 
Passage  in  1746-47,  and  the  Parliamentary  Inquiry, 
in  1748-49,  to  look  into  the  rights  and  workings  of 
the  Adventurers'  charter. 

The  Dobbs  galley,  under  Captain  Moore  was  one 
hundred  and  eighty  tons;    The  Calijornia,  Captain 

325 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Smith,  one  hundred  and  forty  tons ;  and  to  the  crews 
of  both,  rewards  for  the  discovery  of  the  Passage 
to  the  South  Sea  were  to  be  given  ranging  from 
;^5oo  for  the  captains  to  £200  to  be  divided  among 
the  sailors.  Henry  ElHs  went  as  agent  for  the  Dobbs 
Company.  The  name  of  The  California  was  indic- 
ative of  where  these  argonauts  hoped  to  sail.  Oddly 
enough,  that  Captain  Middleton,  whom  the  Dobbs 
forces  had  so  mercilessly  belabored — accompanied 
the  explorers  some  distance  westward  from  the  Ork- 
neys on  The  Shark  as  convoy  against  French  pirates. 
After  leaving  Middleton.  one  of  the  vessels  suffered 
an  experience  that  very  nearly  finished  Arthur  Dobbs' 
enterprise.  "Nothing  had  occurred,"  writes  Ellis, 
"till  the  2ist  of  June,  at  night,  when  a  terrible  fire 
broke  out  in  the  great  cabin  of  The  Dobbs,  and 
quickly  made  progress  to  the  powder  room,  where 
there  were  not  less  than  thirty-six  or  forty  barrels  of 
powder  besides  other  combustibles.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  express  the  consternation.  Every  one  on 
board  had  every  reason  to  expect  that  moment  was 
their  last.  You  might  hear  all  varieties  of  sea- 
eloquence,  cries,  prayers,  curses,  scolding,  mingled 
together.  Water  was  passed  along  by  those  who 
still  preserved  their  reason,  but  the  crew  were  for 
hoisting  out  the  boats.  Lashings  were  cut,  but  none 
had  patience  to  hoist  them  out.     The  ship  was  head 

326 


The  Company's  Prosperity  Arouses  Opposition 

to  wind,  the  sails  shaking  and  making  a  noise  like 
thunder,  then  running  right  before  the  wind  and 
rolling,  every  one  on  deck  waiting  for  the  blast  to  put 
an  end  to  our  fears." 

The  fire  was  put  out  before  it  reached  the  powder, 
but  one  can  guess  the  scare  dampened  the  ardor  of 
the  crew.  Very  little  ice  was  met  in  Hudson  Straits 
and  by  August  19,  the  vessels  were  at  Marble  Island. 
The  season  was  too  late  to  go  on  north,  so  the  ships 
sailed  to  winter  at  York  (Nelson)  on  Hayes  River. 
Here,  the  usual  quarrels  took  place  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  people — buoys  and  flag  signals  being  cut  down 
as  the  ships  ran  through  the  shoals  of  Five-Fathom 
Hole,  five  miles  up  Hayes  River.  A  fort  called 
Montague  House  was  built  for  the  winter  on  the 
south  side,  the  main  house  being  a  two-story  log- 
barracks,  the  outbuildings,  a  sort  of  lean-to,  or 
wooden  wigwam  banked  up  with  snow,  where  the 
crews  could  have  quarters.  The  harbor  was  frozen 
over  by  October  8.  Heavy  fur  clothing  was  then 
donned  for  the  winter,  but  in  spite  of  precautions 
against  scurvy— exercise,  the  use  of  spruce  beer,  out- 
door life— four  men  died  from  the  disease  before  ice 
cleared  from  Hayes  River  in  June. 

It  need  not  be  told  here  that  no  passage  was  found. 
As  the  boats  advanced  farther  and  farther  north  of 
Rowe's  Welcome  toward  Fox  Channel,  the  hope- 

327 


The  Co7iquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

lessness  of  the  quest  became  apparent.  Before  them 
lay  an  ice  world,  ''As  gloomy  a  prospect,"  writes 
Ellis,  "as  ever  astonished  mortal  eyes.  The  ragged 
rocks  seemed  to  hang  above  our  heads.  In  some 
places  there  were  falls  of  water  dashing  from  cliff 
to  cliff.  From  others,  hung  icicles  like  the  pipes 
of  a  vast  organ.  But  the  most  overwhelming  things 
were  the  shattered  crags  at  our  feet,  which  appeared 
to  have  burst  from  the  mountains  through  the  power 
of  the  frost — amazing  relics  of  the  wreck  of  nature." 
In  October  of  1747,  the  ships  were  back  on  the 
Thames. 

If  Dobbs'  Expedition  had  found  a  Northwest 
Passage,  the  history  of  the  Adventurers  would  close 
here.  With  the  merchants  of  London  a  unit  against 
the  charter  and  the  Admiralty  open  to  persuasion 
from  either  side,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
discovery  of  a  way  to  China  through  Hudson  Bay 
would  have  sounded  the  death  knell  of  the  Company. 
But  the  Dobbs  Expedition  was  a  failure.  The 
Company's  course  was  vindicated,  and  when  the 
Parliamentary  Committee  of  1748-49  met,  affairs 
were  judiciously  and  I  must  believe  intentionally 
steered  away  from  the  real  question — the  validity  of 
the  charter — to  such  side  issues  as  the  Northwest 
Passage,  the  state  of  the  Indians,  whether  the  coun- 

328 


The  Company^ s  Prosperity  Arouses  Opposition 

try  could  be  inhabited  or  not,  questions — it  will  be 
noticed — on  which  no  one  was  competent  to  give 
evidence  but  the  Company  itself.  Among  other 
evidence,  there  was  quietly  laid  on  the  table  the 
journals  of  one  Joseph  La  France,  a  French  wood- 
rover  who  had  come  overland  from  Michilimackinac 
to  Hudson  Bay.  This  record  showed  that  France 
was  already  on  the  field  in  the  West.  La  Verendrye 
and  his  sons  were  on  their  way  to  the  Rockies. 
Three  forts  were  already  built  on  the  Assiniboine. 
Such  evidence  could  have  only  one  influence  on 
Parliament.  If  Parliament  took  away  the  charter 
from  the  Company — declared,  in  fact,  that  the 
charter  was  not  legal — who  would  hold  the  vast  do- 
main against  France?  The  question  of  the  abstract 
right  did  not  come  up  at  all.  Does  it  ever  in 
international  affairs?  The  question  was  one  for 
diplomacy,  and  diplomacy  won.  It  was  better  for 
England  that  the  Adventurers  should  remain  in 
undisturbed  possession  ;  and  the  Company  retained 
its  charter. 

Meanwhile,  that  activity  among  the  French  fur 
traders  stirred  up  the  old  Company  as  all  the  home 
agitation  could  not.  Each  of  the  forts,  Churchill 
farthest  north,  York  on  Hayes  River,  Albany,  and 
Henley  House  up  Albany  River,  Moose  (Rupert  lay 

329 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

dismantled  these  years)  and  Richmond  Fort  on  the 
east  side  of  the  bay,  were  strengthened  by  additions 
to  the  garrisons  of  from  thirty  to  fifty  men.  Each 
of  the  four  frigates  sent  out  by  the  Company  had  a 
crew  of  fifty  men,  among  whom  was  one  young 
sailor,  Samuel  Hearne,  of  whom  more  anon.  Every 
year  took  out  more  cannon  for  the  forts,  more  builders 
for  Churchill,  now  a  stone-walled  fort  strong  as 
Quebec.  Joseph  Isbister,  who  had  been  governor 
at  Albany  and  made  some  inland  voyages  from 
Churchill,  was  permanently  appointed,  from  1770, 
as  agent  at  Quebec  to  watch  what  rival  fur  traders 
were  doing;  and  when  he  died,  Hugh  Findlay  suc- 
ceeded him.  A  new  house  was  rushed  up  on  Severn 
River  in  1756,  to  attract  those  Indians  of  Manitoba 
where  the  French  were  established.  Lest  other  mer- 
chants should  petition  for  Labrador,  the  Slude  River 
Station  was  moved  to  Richmond  Fort  and  Captain 
Coates  appointed  to  survey  the  whole  east  coast  of 
Hudson  Bay,  for  which  labor  he  was  given  a  present 
of  £^0.  Poor  Coates!  This  was  in  1750.  Within 
a  year,  he  is  hauled  up  for  illicit  trade  and  dismissed 
ignominiously  from  the  service;  whereat  he  suicides 
from  disgrace.  Eight  years  later,  Richmond  Fort  is 
closed  at  a  loss  of  ;;(^2o,ooo,  but  it  has  shut  the 
mouths  of  other  petitioners  for  Labrador. 

It  is  in  1757,  too,  that  the  Company  inaugurates 
330 


The  Company^ s  Prosperity  Arouses  Opposition 

its  pension  system — withholding  5  per  cent,  of  wages 
for  a  fund.  As  if  Joseph  La  France's  journal  had 
not  been  alarming  enough,  there  comes  overland 
to  Nelson,  in  1759,  that  Jan  Ba'tiste  Larl^e,  a  spy 
whom  the  English  engage  and  vote  a  wig  (;^i  5  s) 
"/o  keep  him  loyalJ^ 

At  Henley  House  up  Albany  River,  pushing  trade 
to  attract  the  Indians  away  from  the  French,  is  that 
Andrew  Graham,  whose  diary  gives  such  a  picture 
of  the  period.  Richard  Norton  of  Churchill  is  long 
since  dead.  Of  his  half-breed  sons  educated  in  Eng- 
land, William  has  become  a  captain;  Moses,  from 
being  sailor  under  Middleton,  wins  distinction  as 
explorer  of  Chesterfield  Inlet  and  rises  to  become 
governor  at  Churchill.  Among  the  recruits  of  the 
increasing  garrisons  are  names  famous  in  the  West 
—Bannister's  and  Spencer's  and  Flett's.  By  way 
of  encouraging  zeal,  the  Company,  in  1770,  increases 
salaries  for  chief  traders  to  £130  a  year,  for  captains 
to  £12  a  month  with  a  gratuity  of  ;/<[ioo  if  they  have 
no  wreck.  Each  chief  trader  is  to  have  added  to 
his  salary  three  shillings  for  every  twenty  beaver 
sent  home  from  his  department;  each  captain,  one 
shilling  sixpence  for  every  twenty  beaver  brought 
safely  to  England.  As  these  bounties  amounted  to 
£108  and  ;^i5o  a  year,  they  more  than  doubled 
salaries.      I  am  sorry  to  say  that  at  this  period, 

331 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

brandy  began  to  be  plied  freely.  French  power 
had  fallen  at  Quebec  in  1759.  French  traders  were 
scattered  through  the  wilds — ^  birds  of  passage,  free 
as  air,  lawless  as  birds,  too,  who  lured  the  Indians 
from  the  English  by  the  use  of  liquor.  If  an  English 
trader  ventured  among  Indians,  who  knew  the  cus- 
toms of  the  French,  and  did  not  proffer  a  keg  of 
watered  brandy,  he  was  apt  to  be  forthwith  douched 
^'baptized'''' — the  Indians  called  it. 

But  the  greatest  activity  displayed  by  the  English 
at  this  time  was  inland  from  the  bay.  If  Joseph  La 
France  could  come  overland  from  Lake  Superior, 
English  traders  could  be  sent  inland.  Andrew  Gra- 
ham is  ordered  to  keep  his  men  at  Severn  and  Albany 
moving  up  stream.  One  Isaac  Butt  is  paid  £14  for 
his  voyaging,  and  in  1756  the  Company  votes  £20  to 
Anthony  Hendry  for  his  remarkable  voyage  from 
York  to  the  Forks  of  the  Saskatchewan — the  first 
Englishman  to  visit  this  now  famous  region.  Hen- 
dry's voyage  merits  a  detailed  account  in  the  next 
chapter. 

NoUs  to  Chapter  XVII. — The  list  of  governors  at  this  period 
is:  Sir  Bibye  Lake,  17 12-1743;  Benjamin  Pitt,  1743-1746, 
when  he  died;  Thomas  Knapp,  1746-1750;  Sir  Atwell  Lake, 
1 750-1 760;  Sir  WiUiam  Baker,  1 760-1 770;  Bibye  Lake,  Jr., 
1770-17S2. 

The  controversy  between  the  Company  and  Dobbs  fills  vol- 
umes. Ellis  and  Dobbs  need  not  be  taken  seriously.  They 
were  for  the  time  maniacs  on  the  subject  of  a  passage  that  had 
no  existence  except  in  their  own  fancy.     Robson  is  different. 


The  Company's  Prosperity  Arouses  Opposition 


Having  been  a  builder  at  Churchill,  he  knew  the  ground,  yet  we 
find  him  uttering  such  absurd  charges  as  that  the  Company 
purposely  sent  Governor  Knight  to  his  death  and  were  glad 
"that  the  troublesome  fellow  was  out  of  the  way."  This  is 
both  malicious  and  ignorant,  for  as  Robson  knew,  the  North- 
west Passage  played  a  very  secondary  part  in  Knight's  fatal 
voyage.  The  Company  just  as  much  as  Knight  was  infatuated 
with  the  lure  of  gold-dust.  Perhaps,  it  will  some  day  prove  not 
so  foolish  an  infatuation.  Gold  placers  have  been  found  in 
Klondike.  Indian  legend  says  they  also  exist  in  the  ices  of  the 
East. 

The  Parliamentary  Report  for  1749  is  an  excellent  example 
of  investigating  "off  the  beat."  The  only  thing  of  value  in  the 
report  is  Joseph  La  France's  Journal.  It  is  valuable  not  as  a 
voyage — for  this  trip  was  well  tracked  from  the  days  of  Radisson 
and  Iberville — but  as  a  description  of  the  French  posts  on  the 
Saskatchewan,  which  Hendry  visited — Pachegoia  or  Pasquia 
or  the  Pas  and  Bourbon — and  as  helping  to  identify  the  Indians, 
whom  Hendry  met. 

La  V^rendrye  voyages  are  not  given  here,  because  not  rela- 
tive to  the  subject.  His  life  will  be  found  in  "Pathfinders  of 
the  West." 

The  Canadian  Archives  give  Hendry's  name  as  Hendey.  It 
is  spelt  Hendry  in  the  H.  B.  C.  minutes. 

In  1746  the  warehouse  on  Lime  Street  was  purchased  for 
£550.  This  year,  too,  comes  a  letter  to  the  Company  from 
Captain  Lee  of  Virginia,  warning  that  a  French  pirate  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men,  which  captured  him,  is  on  the  lookout 
for  the  fur  ships. 

Sharpe  was  the  lawyer  who  engineered  the  Parliamentary 
Inquiry  of  1749.  I  find  his  charges  in  the  Minutes  ^£250  and 
£505- 

John  Potts  was  the  trader  of  Richmond,  when  Coates  was 
captain. 

In  1766,  Samuel  Hearne's  name  appears  as  on  the  pay  roll 
of  The  Prince  Rupert. 

Whale  fisheries  were  now  flourishing  on  the  bay,  for  which 
each  captain  received  a  bounty  of  25  per  cent,  on  net  proceeds. 

In  1769,  the  Company  issued  as  standard  of  trade  3  marten, 
I  beaver;  2  fox,  3  beaver;  gray  fox,  4  beaver;  white  fox,  i 
beaver;    i  otter,  i  beaver. 


333 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

1754-1755 

THE  MARCH  ACROSS  THE  CONTINENT  BEGINS — THE 
COMPANY  SENDS  A  MAN  TO  THE  BLACKFEET  OF 
THE  SOUTH  SASKATCHEWAN — ANTHONY  HENDRY 
IS  THE  FIRST  ENGLISHMAN  TO  PENETRATE  TO 
THE  SASKATCHEWAN — THE  FIRST  ENGLISHMAN 
TO  WINTER  WEST  OF  LAKE  WINNIPEG — HE  MEETS 
THE  SIOUX  AND  THE  BLACKFEET  AND  INVITES 
THEM  TO  THE  BAY 

NOTHING  lends  more  romantic  coloring  to 
the  operations  of  the  fur  traders  on  Hud- 
son Bay  than  the  character  of  the  men 
in  the  service.  They  were  adventurers,  pure  and 
simple,  in  the  best  and  the  worst  sense  of  that  term. 
Peter  Romulus,  the  foreign  surgeon,  rubbed  elbows 
with  Radisson,  the  Frenchman.  A  nephew  of  Sir 
Stephen  Evance — come  out  under  the  plain  name, 
Evans — is  under  the  same  roof  as  a  niece  of  the  same 
governor  of  the  Company,  who  has  come  to  the  bay 
as  the  doweried  wife  of  an  apprentice.  Younger 
sons  of  the  English  gentry  entered  the  service  on  the 
same  level  as  the  Cockney  apprentice.     Rough  Ork- 

334 


The  March  Across  the  Continent  Begins 

ney  fishermen — with  the  thick  burr  of  the  North  in 
their  accent,  the  iron  strength  of  the  North  in  their 
blood,  and  a  periphery  of  Calvinistic  self-righteous- 
ness, which  a  modern  gatling  gun  could  not  shoot 
through — had  as  bedfellows  in  the  fort  barracks  soft- 
voiced  English  youths  from  the  south  counties,  who 
had  been  outlawed  for  smuggling,  or  sent  to  the  bay 
to  expiate  early  dissipations.  And  sometimes  this 
curious  conglomeration  of  human  beings  was  ruled 
in  the  fort — ruled  with  the  absolute  despotism  of  the 
little  king,  of  course — by  a  drunken  half-breed  brute 
like  Governor  Moses  Norton,  whose  one  qualification 
was  that  he  could  pile  up  the  beaver  returns  and  hold 
the  Indians'  friendship  by  being  baser  and  more 
uncivilized  than  they.  The  theme  is  one  for  song  and 
story  as  well  as  for  history. 

Among  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  cast  on  Hudson 
Bay  in  the  seventeen  hundred  and  fifties  was  one 
Anthony  Hendry,  a  boy  from  the  Isle  of  Wight.  He 
had  been  outlawed  for  smuggling  and  sought  escape 
from  punishment  by  service  on  the  bay.  He  came 
as  bookkeeper.  Other  servants  could  scarcely  be 
driven  or  bribed  to  go  inland  with  the  Indians. 
Hendry  asked  permission  to  go  back  to  their  country 
with  the  Assiniboines,  in  1754.  James  Isham  was 
governor  of  York  Fort  at  the  time.  He  was  only  too 
glad  to  give  Hendry  permission. 

335 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Four  hundred  Assiniboines  had  come  in  canoes 
with  their  furs  to  the  fort.  Leather  wigwams  spread 
back  from  the  Hayes  River  like  a  town  of  mush- 
rooms. Canoes  lay  in  hundreds  bottom-up  on  the 
beach,  and  where  the  reddish  blue  of  the  camp- 
fire  curled  up  from  the  sands  filling  the  evening  air 
with  the  pungent  smell  of  burning  bark,  Assiniboine 
voyageurs  could  be  seen  melting  resin  and  tar  to 
gum  the  splits  in  the  birch  canoes.  Hunters  had 
exchanged  their  furs  for  guns  and  ammunition. 
Squaws  had  bartered  their  store  of  pemmican 
(buffalo)  meat  for  gay  gewgaws — red  flannels  and 
prints,  colored  beads,  hand  mirrors  of  tin — given  at 
the  wicket  gate  of  the  fort. 

Young  Hendry  joined  the  encampment,  became 
acquainted  with  different  leaders  of  the  brigades,  and 
finally  secured  an  Assiniboine  called  Little  Bear  as 
a  guide  to  the  country  of  the  Great  Unknown  River, 
where  the  French  sent  traders — the  Saskatchewan. 
It  was  the  end  of  June  before  the  Indians  were  ready 
to  break  camp  for  the  homeward  voyage.  By  look- 
ing at  the  map,  it  will  be  seen  that  Nelson  and  Hayes 
rivers  flow  northeast  from  the  same  prairie  region  to 
a  point  at  the  bay  called  Port  Nelson,  or  Fort  York. 
One  could  ascend  to  the  country  of  the  Assiniboines 
by  either  Hayes  River  or  Nelson.  York  Fort  was 
on  Hayes  River.    The  Indians  at  that  time  usually 

336 


The  March  Across  the  Continent  Begins 

ascended  the  Hayes  River  halfway,  then  crossed 
westward  to  the  Nelson  by  a  chain  of  rivers  and 
lakes  and  portages,  and  advanced  to  the  prairie  by 
a  branch  of  the  Nelson  River  known  as  Katchawan 
to  Playgreen  Lake.  Playgreen  Lake  is  really  a 
northern  arm  of  Lake  Winnipeg.  Instead  of  com- 
ing on  down  to  Lake  Winnipeg,  the  Assiniboines 
struck  westward  overland  from  Playgreen  Lake  to 
the  Saskatchewan  at  Pasquia,  variously  known  as 
Basquia  and  Pachegoia  and  the  Pas.  By  cutting 
across  westward  from  Playgreen  Lake  to  the  main 
Saskatchewan,  three  detours  were  avoided:  (i)  the 
long  detour  round  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Winni- 
peg; (2)  the  southern  bend  of  Saskatchewan,  where 
it  enters  the  lake;  (3)  the  portage  of  Grand  Rapids 
in  the  Saskatchewan  between  Lake  Winnipeg  and 
Cedar  Lake.  It  is  necessary  to  give  these  some- 
what tedious  details  as  this  route  was  to  become 
the  highway  of  commerce  for  a  hundred  years. 

Up  these  waters  paddled  the  gay  Indian  voyageurs, 
the  foam  rippling  on  the  wake  of  their  bark  canoes 
not  half  so  light  as  the  sparkling  foam  of  laugh  and 
song  and  story  from  the  paddlers.  Over  these  long 
lonely  portages,  silent  but  for  the  wind  through  the 
trees,  or  the  hoot  of  the  owl,  or  flapping  of  a  loon, 
or  a  far  weird  call  of  the  meadow  lark — a  mote  in 
an  ocean  of  sky — the  first  colonists  were  to  trudge, 

337 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

men  and  women  and  children,  who  came  to  the 
West  seeking  that  freedom  and  room  for  the  shoulder- 
swing  of  uncramped  manhood,  which  home  lands 
had  denied.  Plymouth  Rock,  they  call  the  landing 
place  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Every  portage  up 
Hayes  River  was  a  Plymouth  Rock  to  these  first 
colonists  of  the  West. 

On  June  26,  then,  1754,  Hendry  set  out  with  the 
Assiniboines  for  the  voyage  up  Hayes  River.  At 
Amista-Asinee  or  Great  Stone  Rock  they  camped 
for  the  first  night,  twenty-four  miles  from  York — 
good  progress  considering  it  was  against  stream  at 
the  full  flood  of  summer  rains.  Fire  Steel  River, 
Wood  Partridge  River,  Pine  Reach — marked  the 
camps  for  sixty  miles  from  York.  Four  Falls  com- 
pelled portage  beyond  Pine  Reach,  and  shoal  water 
for  another  twenty-five  miles  set  the  men  tracking, 
the  crews  jumping  out  to  wade  and  draw  the  light- 
ened canoes  up  stream. 

July  I,  Hendry  was  one  hundred  and  thirteen 
miles  from  York.  Terrific  rains,  hot  and  thundery, 
deluged  the  whole  flotilla,  and  Hendry  learned  for 
the  first  time  what  clouds  of  huge  inland  mos- 
quitoes can  do.  Mosquito  Point,  he  called  the  camp. 
Here,  the  Hayes  broke  into  three  or  four  branches. 
Hendry's  brigade  of  Assiniboines  began  to  work  up 
one    of    the    northwestward    branches   toward    the 

338 


The  March  Across  the  Continent  Begins 

Nelson.  The  land  seemed  to  be  barren  rock.  At 
camping  places  was  neither  fish  nor  fowl.  The 
vovageurs  took  a  reef  in  their  belts  and  pressed  on. 
Three  beaver  afforded  some  food  on  Steel  River  but 
''we  are  greatly  fatigued,"  records  Hendry,  ''with 
carrying  and  hauling  our  canoes,  and  we  are  not  well 
fed ;  but  the  natives  are  continually  smoking,  which 
I  find  allays  hunger."  Pikes  and  ducks  replenished 
the  provision  bags  on  Duck  Lake  beyond  Steel  River. 
Twenty  canoes  of  Inland  Indians  were  met  at  Shad 
Falls  beyond  Cree  Lake,  on  their  way  to  York.  With 
these  Hendry  sent  a  letter  to  Governor  Isham.  It 
was  July  20  before  Hendry  realized  that  the  laby- 
rinth of  willow  swamps  had  led  into  Nelson  River. 
It  must  have  been  high  up  Nelson  River,  in  some  of 
its  western  sources  east  of  Playgreen  Lake,  for  one 
day  later,  on  Sunday  the  21st,  he  records:  "We  pad- 
dled two  miles  up  the  Nelson  and  then  came  to 
Keiskatchewan  River,  on  which  the  French  have  two 
houses  which  we  expect  to  see  to-morrow."  He  was 
now  exactly  five  hundred  miles  from  York.  "The 
mosquitoes  are  intolerable,  giving  us  peace  neither 
day  nor  night.  We  paddled  fourteen  miles  up  the 
Keiskatchewan  west,  when  we  came  to  a  French 
house.  On  our  arrival,  two  Frenchmen  came  to  the 
waterside  and  in  a  very  genteel  manner  invited  me 
into  their  house,  which  I  readily  accepted.     One 

339 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

asked  if  I  had  any  letter  from  my  master  and  why  I 
was  going  inland.  I  answered  I  had  no  letter  and 
was  out  to  view  the  country;  that  I  meant  to  return 
this  way  in  spring.  He  told  me  his  master  and  men 
were  gone  down  to  Montreal  with  the  furs,  and  that 
they  must  detain  me  until  his  return.  However, 
they  were  very  kind,  and  at  night  I  went  to  my  tent 
and  told  Little  Bear  my  leader.  He  only  smiled  and 
said:  "They  dare  not  detain  you."  Hendry  was  at 
the  Pas  on  the  Saskatchewan.  If  he  had  come  up 
the  Saskatchewan  from  Lake  Winnipeg,  he  would 
have  found  that  the  French  had  another  fort  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river — Bourbon. 

From  now  on,  he  describes  the  region  which  he 
crossed  as  Mosquito  Plains.  White  men  alone  in  the 
wilderness  become  friends  quickly.  In  spite  of 
rivalry,  the  English  trader  presented  the  French  with 
tobacco ;  the  French  in  turn  gave  him  pemmican  of 
moose  meat.  On  Wednesday,  July  24,  he  left  the 
fort.  Sixteen  miles  up  the  Saskatchewan,  Hendry 
passed  Peotago  River,  heavily  timbered  with  birch 
trees.  Up  this  region  the  canoes  of  the  four  hundred 
Assiniboines  ascended  southward,  toward  the  western 
corner  of  the  modern  province  of  Manitoba.  As  the 
river  became  shoal,  canoes  were  abandoned  seventy 
miles  south  of  the  Saskatchewan.  Packs  strapped  on 
backs,  the  Indians  starving  for  food,  a  dreary  march 

340 


The  March  Across  the  Continent  Begins 

began  across  country  southwest  over  the  Mosquito 
Plains.  "Neither  bird  nor  beast  is  to  be  seen.  We 
have  nothing  to  eat,"  records  Hendry  after  a  twenty- 
six  miles  tramp.  At  last,  seventy  miles  from  where 
they  had  left  the  canoes,  one  hundred  and  forty 
from  the  Saskatchewan,  they  came  on  a  huge  patch 
of  ripe  raspberries  and  wild  cherries,  and  luckily  in 
the  brushwood  killed  two  moose.  This  relieved  the 
famine.  Wandering  Assiniboines  chanced  to  be  en- 
camped here.  Hendry  held  solemn  conference  with 
the  leaders,  whiffed  pipes  to  the  four  corners  of  the 
universe — by  which  the  deities  of  North,  South,  East 
and  West  were  called  to  witness  the  sincerity  of  the 
sentiments — and  invited  these  tribes  down  to  York; 
but  they  only  answered,  "we  are  already  supplied  by 
the  French  at  Pasquia." 

One  hundred  miles  south  of  Pas — or  just  where 
the  Canadian  Northern  Railroad  strikes  west  from 
Manitoba  across  Saskatchewan — a  delightful  change 
came  over  the  face  of  the  country.  Instead  of 
brackish  swamp  water  or  salt  sloughs,  were  clear- 
water  lakes.  Red  deer — called  by  the  Assiniboines 
waskesaw — were  in  myriads.  "I  am  now,"  writes 
Hendry  as  he  entered  what  is  now  the  Province  of 
Saskatchewan,  "entering  a  most  pleasant  and  plenti- 
ful country  of  hills  and  dales  with  little  woods." 

Many  Indians  were  met,  but  all  were  strong 
341 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

partisans  of  the  French.  An  average  of  ten  miles  a 
day  was  made  by  the  marchers,  hunting  red  deer 
as  they  tramped.  On  August  8,  somewhere  near 
what  is  now  Red  Deer  River,  along  the  line  of  the 
Canada  Northern,  pause  was  made  for  a  festival  of 
rejoicing  on  safe  return  from  the  long  voyage  and 
relief  from  famine.  For  a  day  and  a  night,  all  hands 
feasted  and  smoked  and  danced  and  drank  and  con- 
jured in  gladness;  the  smoking  of  the  pipe  corre- 
sponding to  our  modern  grace  before  meals,  the 
dancing  a  way  of  evincing  thanks  in  rhythmic  motion 
instead  of  music,  the  drinking  and  conjuring  not  so 
far  different  from  our  ancestors'  way  of  giving  thanks. 
The  lakes  were  becoming  alkali  swamps,  and  camp 
had  to  be  made  where  there  was  fresh  water.  Some- 
times the  day's  march  did  not  average  four  miles. 
Again,  there  would  be  a  forced  march  of  fifteen.  For 
the  first  time,  an  English  fur  trader  saw  Indians  on 
horseback.  Where  did  they  get  the  horses?  As  we 
now  know,  the  horses  came  from  the  Spaniards,  but 
we  must  not  wonder  that  when  Hendry  reported 
having  seen  whole  tribes  on  horseback,  he  was 
laughed  out  of  the  service  as  a  romancer,  and  the 
whole  report  of  his  trip  discredited.  The  Indians' 
object  was  to  reach  the  buffalo  grounds  and  lay  up 
store  of  meat  for  the  winter.  They  told  Hendry  he 
would  presently  see  whole  tribes  of  Indians  on  horse- 


The  March  Across  the  Continent  Begins 

back — Archithinues,  the  famous  Blackfoot  Con- 
federacy of  Bloods,  Blackfeet,  Piegans  and  Sarcees. 

On  the  15th  of  August,  they  were  among  the 
buffalo,  where  to-day  the  great  grooves  and  ruts  left 
by  the  marching  herds  can  still  be  seen  between  the 
Saskatchewan  and  the  Assiniboine  Rivers  toward 
Qu'  Appelle.  For  the  most  part,  the  Indians  hunted 
the  buffalo  with  bow  and  arrow,  and  at  night  there 
was  often  a  casualty  list  like  the  wounded  after  a 
battle.  ^^ Sunday — dressed  a  lame  man^s  leg  and  he 
gave  me  for  my  trouble  a  moose  nose,  which  is  con- 
sidered a  great  delicacy  among  the  Indians."  "I 
killed  a  bull  buflalo,"  he  writes  on  September  8, 
''he  was  nothing  but  skin  and  bones.  I  took  out  his 
tongue  and  left  his  remains  to  the  wolves,  which  were 
waiting  around  in  great  numbers.  We  cannot  afford 
to  expend  ammunition  on  them.  My  feet  are  swelled 
with  marching,  but  otherwise  I  am  in  perfect  health. 
So  expert  are  the  natives  buffalo  hunting,  they  will 
take  an  arrow  out  of  the  buffalo  when  the  beasts  are 
foaming  and  raging  and  tearing  the  ground  up  with 
their  feet  and  horns.  The  buffalo  are  so  nutnerous, 
like  herds  of  English  cattle  that  we  are  obliged  to 
make  them  sheer  out  of  our  wayp 

Sometimes  more  dangerous  game  than  buffalo  was 
encountered.  On  September  17,  Hendry  writes: 
''  Two  young  men  were  miserably  wounded  by  a 

343 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

grizzly  hear  that  they  were  hunting  to-day.  One  may 
recover  hut  the  other  never  caji.  His  arm  is  torn  jrom 
his  hody,  one  eye  gouged  out  and  his  stomach  ripped 
open''    The  next  day  the  Indian  died. 

The  Assiniboines  were  marching  southwest  from 
the  Pas  toward  the  land  of  the  Blackfeet.  They 
were  now  three  hundred  miles  southwest  of  the 
French  House.  To  Hendry's  surprise  they  came 
to  a  large  river  with  high  banks  that  looked  exactly 
like  the  Saskatchewan.  It  was  the  South  Branch 
of  the  Saskatchewan,  where  it  takes  the  great  bend 
south  of  Prince  Albert.  Canoes  had  been  left  far 
behind.  What  were  the  four  hundred  Assiniboines 
to  do?  But  the  Indians  solved  the  difficulty  in  less 
than  half  a  day.  Making  boats  of  willow  branches 
and  moose  parchment  skin — like  the  bull-boats  of 
the  Missouri — the  Assiniboines  rafted  safely  across. 
The  march  now  turned  west  toward  the  Eagle  River 
and  Eagle  Hills  and  North  Saskatchewan.  The 
Eagle  Indians  are  met  and  persuaded  to  bring  their 
furs  to  York  Fort. 

As  winter  approached,  the  women  began  dressing 
the  skins  for  moccasins  and  clothes.  A  fire  of  punk 
in  an  earth-hole  smoked  the  skins.  Beating  and 
pounding  and  stretching  pelts,  the  squaws  then 
softened  the  skin.  For  winter  wear,  moccasins  were 
left  with  the  fur  inside.     Hendry  remarks  how  in 

344 


The  March  Across  fhe  Continent  Begins 

the  fall  of  the  year,  the  women  sat  in  the  doors  of 
their  wigwams  "knitting  moose  leather  into  snow 
shoes"  made  of  seasoned  wood.  It  was  October 
before  the  Indians  of  the  far  Western  plains  were 
met.  These  were  the  famous  Blackfeet  for  the  first 
time  now  seen  by  an  English  trader.  They  ap- 
proached the  Assiniboines  mounted  and  armed  with 
bows  and  spears.  Hendry  gave  them  presents  to 
carry  to  their  chief.  Hendry  notes  the  signs  of 
mines  along  the  banks  of  the  Saskatchewan.  He 
thought  the  mineral  iron.  What  he  saw  was  prob- 
ably an  outcropping  of  coal.  The  jumping  deer  he 
describes  as  a  new  kind  of  goat.  As  soon  as  ice 
formed  on  the  swamps,  the  hunters  began  trenching 
for  beaver — which  were  plentiful  beyond  the  fur 
trader's  hopes.  W^hen,  on  October  the  nth,  the 
marchers  for  the  third  time  came  on  the  Saskatche- 
wan, which  the  Indians  called  Waskesaw,  Hendry 
recognized  that  all  the  branches  were  forks  of  one 
and  the  same  great  river — the  Saskatchewan,  or  as 
the  French  called  it,  Christinaux.  The  Indian  names 
for  the  two  branches  were  Keskatchew  and  Waske- 
saw. 

For  several  days  the  far  smoke  of  an  encampment 
had  been  visible  southwest.  On  October  the  14th, 
four  riders  came  out  to  conduct  Hendry  to  an  en- 
campment of  three  hundred  and  twenty-two  tents 

345 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

of  Blackfeet  Indians  '^pitched  in  two  rows  with  an 
opening  in  the  middle,  where  we  were  conducted  to 
the  leaders  tent.''^  This  was  the  main  tribe  of  which 
Hendry  had  already  met  the  outrunners.  "The 
leaders  tent  was  large  enough  to  contain  fifty  persons. 
He  received  us  seated  on  a  buffalo  skin  attended  by 
twenty  elderly  men.  He  made  signs  for  me  to  sit 
down  on  his  right  hand,  which  I  did.  Our  leaders 
(the  Assiniboines)  set  several  great  pipes  going  the 
rounds  and  we  smoked  according  to  their  custom. 
Not  one  word  was  spoken.  Smoking  over,  boiled 
buffalo  flesh  was  served  in  baskets  of  bent  wood.  I 
was  presented  with  ten  buffalo  tongues.  My  guide 
informed  the  leader  I  was  sent  by  the  grand  leader 
who  lives  on  the  Great  Waters  to  invite  his  young 
men  down  with  their  furs.  They  would  receive  in 
return,  powder,  shot,  guns  and  cloth.  He  made  little 
answer:  said  it  was  far  off  and  his  people  could  not 
paddle.  We  were  then  ordered  to  depart  to  our  tents 
which  we  pitched  a  quarter  of  a  mile  outside  their 
lines. ''^  Again  invited  to  the  leader's  tent  the  next 
morning,  Hendry  heard  some  remarkable  philosophy 
from  the  Indian.  "  The  chief  told  me  his  tribe  never 
wanted  food  as  they  followed  the  buffalo,  but  he  was 
hiformed  the  natives  who  frequented  the  settlements 
often  starved  on  their  journey,  which  was  exceedingly 
true."  added  Hendry.     Reciprocal  presents  closed 

346 


The  March  Across  the  Continent  Begins 

the  interview.  The  present  to  the  Assiniboine  chief 
was  a  couple  of  girl  slaves,  one  of  whom  was  mur- 
dered at  York  ten  years  afterward  by  an  Indian  in  a 
fit  of  jealousy. 

Later,  Hendry  learned  that  the  Assiniboines  did 
not  want  these  Blackfeet  of  the  far  West  to  come 
down  to  the  bay.  Neither  would  the  Assiniboines 
hunt  except  for  food.  Putting  the  two  facts  to- 
gether, Hendry  rightly  judged  that  the  Assiniboines 
acted  as  middlemen  between  the  traders  and  the 
Blackfeet. 

By  the  end  of  October,  Hendry  had  left  the  plains 
and  was  in  a  rolling  wooded  land  northwest  of  the 
North  Saskatchewan.  Here,  with  occasional  moves 
as  the  hunting  shifted,  the  Indians  wintered;  his 
journal  says,  *' eight  hundred  and  ten  miles  west  of 
York,"  moving  back  and  forward  north  and  south  of 
the  river;  but  a  comment  added  by  Andrew  Graham 
on  the  margin  of  the  journal,  says  he  was  in  latitude 
59°.  This  is  plainly  a  mistake,  as  latitude  59°  is  six 
degrees  away  from  the  Saskatchewan;  but  eight 
hundred  and  ten  miles  from  York  along  the  Sas- 
katchewan would  bring  Hendry  in  the  region  be- 
tween the  modern  Edmonton  and  Battleford.  It  is 
to  Hendry's  credit  that  he  remained  on  good  terms 
with  the  Assiniboines.  If  he  had  been  a  weakling, 
he  would  easily  have  become  the  butt  of  the  children 

347 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

who  infested  the  tents  like  imps;  but  he  hunted  with 
the  hunters,  trapped  with  the  trappers,  and  could 
outmarch  the  best  of  them.  Consequently,  there  is 
not  a  note  in  his  journal  of  that  doleful  whine  which 
comes  from  the  weakling  run  amuck  of  hard  life  in 
a  savage  land. 

When  he  met  Indians  hunting  for  the  French 
forts,  with  true  trader  instinct  he  bribed  them  with 
gifts  to  bring  their  furs  down  to  Hudson  Bay.  Almost 
the  entire  winter,  camp  moved  from  bend  to  bend  or 
branch  to  branch  of  the  North  Saskatchewan,  head- 
ing gradually  eastward.  Toward  spring,  different 
tribes  joined  the  Assiniboines  to  go  down  to  York. 
Among  these  were  "green  scalps"  and  many  women 
captives  from  those  Blackfeet  Indians  Hendry  had 
met.  Each  night  the  scalps  hung  like  flags  from  the 
tent  poles.  The  captives  were  given  around  camp 
as  presents.  One  hears  much  twaddle  of  the  red 
man's  noble  state  before  he  was  contaminated  by 
the  white  man.  Hendry  saw  these  tribes  of  the  Far 
West  before  they  had  met  any  white  men  but  him- 
self, and  the  disposal  of  those  captives  is  a  criterion 
of  the  red  man's  noble  state.  Whenever  one  was 
not  wanted — the  present  of  a  girl,  for  instance,  re- 
sented by  a  warrior's  jealous  wives — she  was  sum- 
marily hacked  to  pieces,  and  not  a  passing  thought 
given  to  the  matter.     The  killing  of  a  dog  or  a  beaver 

348 


The  March  Across  the  Continent  Begins 

caused  more  comment.  On  the  value  of  life  as  a 
thing  of  worth  in  itself,  the  Indian  had  absolutely 
no  conception,  not  so  much  conception  as  a  domestic 
dog  trained  not  to  destroy  life. 

By  spring,  Hendry's  camp  had  dwindled  down  to 
a  party  of  twelve.  He  now  had  only  two  pounds  of 
powder  in  his  possession,  but  his  party  were  rich  in 
furs.  As  the  time  approached  to  build  canoes,  the 
Assiniboines  began  gathering  at  the  river  banks. 
Young  men  searched  the  woods  for  bark.  Old  men 
whittled  out  the  gun' els.  Women  pounded  pemmican 
into  bags  for  the  long  voyage  to  the  bay.  The  nights 
passed  in  riotous  feast  and  revel,  with  the  tom-tom 
pounding,  the  conjurers  performing  tricks,  the 
hunters  dancing,  the  women  peeping  shyly  into  the 
dance  tent.  At  such  times,  one  may  guess,  Hendry 
did  not  spare  of  his  scant  supplies  to  lure  the  Indians 
to  York  Fort,  but  he  did  not  count  on  the  effects  of 
French  brandy  when  the  canoes  would  pass  the 
French  posts. 

Ice  was  driving  in  the  river  like  a  mill  race  all 
the  month  of  April.  Swans  and  geese  and  pigeons 
and  bluejays  came  winging  north.  There  was  that 
sudden  and  wondrous  leap  to  life  of  a  dormant 
world — and  lo! — it  was  summer,  with  the  ducks  on 
the  river  in  flocks,  and  the  long  prairie  grass  waving 
like  a  green  sea,  and  the  trees  bleak  and  bare  against 

349 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  vaporous  sky  now  clothing  themselves  in  foliage 
as  in  a  bridal  veil  shot  with  sunlight. 

The  great  dog  feast  was  solemnly  held.  The  old 
men  conjured  the  powers  of  the  air  to  bless  them 
a  God-speed.  Canoes  were  launched  on  April  28, 
and  out  swung  the  Assiniboines'  brigade  for  Fort 
York.  It  was  easier  going  down  stream  than  up. 
Thirty  and  forty  miles  a  day  they  made,  passing 
multitudes  of  Indians  still  building  their  canoes  on 
the  river  banks.  At  every  camp,  more  fur-laden 
canoes  joined  them.  Hendry's  heart  must  have 
been  very  happy.  He  was  bringing  wealth  untold 
to  York. 

Four  hundred  miles  down  stream,  the  Blackfeet 
Indians  were  met  and  with  great  pow-wow  of  trading 
turned  their  furs  over  to  the  crafty  Assiniboines  to 
be  taken  down  to  York.  There  were  now  sixty 
canoes  in  the  flotilla  and  says  Hendry  "not  a  pot 
or  kettle  among  us."  Everything  had  been  bartered 
to  the  Blackfeet  for  furs.  Six  hundred  miles  from 
their  launching  place,  they  came  to  the  first  French 
post.  This  distance  given  by  Hendry  is  another  pretty 
effective  proof  that  he  had  wintered  near  Edmonton, 
if  not  beyond  it,  for  this  post  was  not  the  Pas.  It 
was  subordinate  to  Basquia  or  Pasquia. 

Hendry  was  invited  into  the  French  post  as  the 
guest  of  the  master.     If  he  had  been  as  crafty  as  he 

350 


The  March  Across  the  Continent  Begins 

was  brave,  he  would  have  hurried  his  Indians  past 
the  rival  post,  but  he  had  to  live  and  learn.  While 
he  was  having  supper,  the  French  distributed  ten 
gallons  of  brandy  among  the  Assiniboines.  By 
morning,  the  French  had  obtained  the  pick  of  the 
furs,  one  thousand  of  the  best  pelts,  and  it  was  three 
days  before  the  amazed  Hendry  could  coax  the 
Indians  away  from  his  polite  hosts.  Two  hundred 
miles  more,  brought  the  brigade  to  the  main  French 
post — the  Pas.  Nine  Frenchmen  were  in  possession, 
and  the  trick  was  repeated.  "The  Indians  are  all 
drunk,"  deplores  Hendry,  ''but  the  master  was  very 
kind  to  me.  He  is  dressed  very  genteel  but  his  men 
wear  nothing  but  drawers  and  striped  cotton  shirts 
ruffled  at  the  hand  and  breast.  This  house  has 
been  long  a  place  of  trade  and  is  named  Basquia.  It 
is  twenty-six  feet  long,  twelve  wide,  nine  high, 
having  a  sloping  roof,  the  walls  log  on  log,  the  top 
covered  with  willows,  and  divided  into  three  rooms, 
one  for  trade,  one  for  storing  furs,  and  one  for  a 
dwelling." 

Four  days  passed  before  the  Indians  had  sobered 
sufficiently  to  go  on,  and  they  now  had  only  the  heavy 
furs  that  the  French  would  not  take.  On  June  i, 
the  brigade  again  set  out  for  York.  Canoes  were 
lighter  now.  Seventy  miles  a  day  was  made.  Hen- 
dry does  not  give  any  distances  on  his  return  voyage, 

351 


The  Corujuest  of  the  Great  Nfjrthwest 

but  he  followed  the  same  course  by  which  he  had 
come,  through  Deer  Lake  and  Steel  River  to  Hayes 
River  and  York,  where  all  arrived  on  the  20th  of 
June. 

To  Hendry's  profound  disgust,  he  was  not  again 
permitted  to  go  inland.  In  fact,  discredit  was  cast 
on  his  report.  "Indians  on  horseback!"  The  fac- 
tors of  the  bay  ridiculed  the  idea.  They  had  never 
heard  of  such  a  thing.  All  the  Indians  they  knew 
came  to  the  fort  in  canoes.  Indeed,  it  was  that 
spirit  of  little-minded  narrowness  that  more  than 
anything  else  lost  to  the  Company  the  magnificent 
domain  of  its  charter.  If  the  men  governing  the 
Company  had  realized  the  empire  of  their  ruling  as 
fully  as  did  the  humble  servants  fighting  the  battles 
on  the  field,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  might  have 
ruled  from  Atlantic  to  Pacific  in  the  North,  and  in 
the  West  as  far  south  as  Mexico.  But  they  objected 
to  being  told  what  they  did  not  know.  Hendry  was 
"frozen"  out  of  the  service.  The  occasion  of  his 
leaving  was  even  more  contemptible  than  the  real 
cause.  On  one  of  his  trading  journeys,  he  was 
oft'ered  very  badly  mixed  brandies,  probably  drugged. 
Being  a  fairly  good  judge  of  brandies  from  his 
smuggling  days,  Hendry  refused  to  take  what  Andrew 
Graham  calls  "such  slops  from  such  gentry."  He 
quit  the  service  in  disgust. 

352 


The  March  Across  the  Continent  Begins 

The  Company,  as  the  minutes  show,  voted  him 
£20  gratuity  for  his  voyage.  Why,  then,  did  the 
factors  cast  ridicule  on  his  report?  Supposing  they 
had  accepted  it,  what  would  have  been  entailed? 
They  must  capture  the  furs  of  that  vast  inland  coun- 
try for  their  Company.  To  do  that,  there  must  be 
forts  built  inland.  Some  factor  would  be  ordered 
inland.  Then,  there  would  be  the  dangers  of  French 
competition — very  real  danger  in  the  light  of  that 
brandy  incident.  The  factors  on  the  bay — Norton 
and  Isham — were  not  brave  enough  men  to  under- 
take such  a  campaign.  It  was  easier  sitting  snugly 
inside  the  forts  with  a  multitude  of  slave  Indians 
to  wait  on  their  least  want.  So  the  trade  of  the 
interior  was  left  to  take  care  of  itself. 

Notes  on  Chapter  XVIII. — Hendry's  Journal  is  in  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  House,  London.  A  copy  is  also  in  the  Canadian 
Archives.  Andrew  Graham  of  Severn  has  written  various  notes 
along  the  margin.  If  it  had  not  been  for  Graham,  it  looks  much 
as  if  Hendry's  Journal  would  have  been  lost  to  the  Company. 
Hendry  gives  the  distances  of  each  day's  travel  so  minutely, 
that  his  course  can  easily  be  followed  first  to  Basquia,  then  from 
Basquia  to  the  North  Saskatchewan  region.  Graham's  com- 
ment that  Hendry  was  at  59°  north  is  simply  a  slip.  It  is  out 
of  the  question  to  accept  it  for  the  simple  reason  Hendry  could 
not  have  gone  eight  hundred  and  ten  miles  southwest  from  York, 
as  his  journal  daily  records,  and  have  been  within  6°  of  59°. 
Besides  his  own  discovery  that  he  had  been  crossing  branches 
of  the  Saskatchewan  all  the  time  and  his  account  of  his  voyage 
down  the  Saskatchewan  to  the  Pas,  are  unmistakable  proofs 
of  his  whereabouts.  Also  he  mentions  the  Eagle  Indians  re- 
peatedly. These  Indians  dwelt  between  the  north  and  south 
branches  of  the  Saskatchewan.  Whether  the  other  rivers  that 
he  crossed  were  the  Assiniboine  or  the  Qu'Appelle  or  the  Red 
Deer  of  Lake  Winnipegosis — I  do  not  know. 

353 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


I  had  great  trouble  in  identifying  the  Archithinue  Indians 
of  Hendry  s  Journal  till  I  came  on  Matthew  Cooking's  Journal 
over  the  same  ground.  Dec.  i,  1772,  Cocking  says:  "This 
tribe  is  named  Powestic  Athinuewuck,  Waterfall  Indians.  There 
are  four  tribes  or  nations  which  are  all  Equestrian  Indians,  viz: 

(i)  Mithco  Athinuwuck,  or  Bloody  Indians. 

(2)  Koskiton  Wathesitock,  or  Black  Footed  Indians. 

(3)  Pegonow,   or  Muddy   Water  Indians. 

(4)  Sassewuck,  or  Woody  Country  Indians. 


354 


CHAPTER  XIX 

I 7 70-1800 

EXTENSION  OF  TRADE  TOWARD  LABRADOR,  QUEBEC 
AND  ROCKIES — HEAKNE  FINDS  THE  ATHABASCA 
COUNTRY  AND  FOUNDS  CUMBERLAND  HOUSE  ON 
THE  SASKATCHEWAN — COCKING  PROCEEDS  TO 
THE  BLACKFEET — HOWSE  FINDS  THE  PASS  IN 
ROCKIES 

WHILE  Anthony  Hendry,  the  English 
smuggler,  was  making  his  way  up  the 
Saskatchewan  to  the  land  of  the  Blackfeet 
— the  present  province  of  Alberta — the  English  Ad- 
venturers were  busy  making  good  their  claim  to  Lab- 
rador. Except  as  a  summer  rendezvous,  Rupert,  the 
oldest  of  the  Company's  forts,  at  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  bay — had  been  abandoned,  but  far  up  the 
coast  of  Labrador  on  the  wildest  part  of  this  desolate 
shore,  was  that  fort  which  the  Company  was  shortly 
forced  to  dismantle  at  great  loss — Richmond.  When 
Captain  Coates  was  sent  to  cruise  the  east  coast  of 
Hudson  Bay,  thirty  men  under  John  Potts  and  Mr. 
PoUexfen,  had  been  left  on  Richmond  Gulf  to  build 
a  fort.  There  was  no  more  dangerous  region  on  the 
bay.    It  was  here  Hudson's  crew  had  been  attacked 

355 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

by  the  Eskimos,  and  here  the  Eskimos  yearly  came 
to  winter  and  hunt  the  white  whale.  Between  the 
rugged  main  shore  and  the  outer  line  of  barren 
islands  was  usually  open  water.  Camped  on  the 
rocky  islets,  the  timid  Eskimos  were  secure  from 
Indian  foe,  and  if  the  white  whale  fisheries  failed, 
they  had  only  to  scud  across  the  open  water  or  por- 
tage over  the  ice  to  the  mainland  and  hunt  partridge 
on  Richmond  Gulf.  From  one  hundred  and  fifty 
to  three  hundred  Eskimos  yearly  wintered  within 
trading  distance  of  Richmond. 

Quickly,  storehouses,  barracks,  wareroom  and 
guardroom  were  erected  just  inside  the  narrow  en- 
trance from  Hudson  Bay  to  Richmond  Gulf,  and 
round  all  thrown  a  ten-foot  palisade.  This  was  in 
1749.  Coates  had  been  attracted  to  Richmond  Gulf 
— which  he  calls  Artiwinipack — by  its  land-locked, 
sheltered  position  and  the  magnificent  supply  of 
lumber  for  building.  The  Eskimo  whale  fisheries 
were  farther  south  at  Whale  River  and  East  Main, 
with  winter  lodges  subordinate  to  Richmond.  The 
partridges  of  the  wooded  slopes  promised  abundance 
of  food,  and  there  was  excellent  fox  and  beaver 
trapping.  Compared  to  the  other  rocky  barrens  of 
northern  Labrador,  Richmond  Harbor  seemed  Para- 
dise, ^^hut  oh,  my  conscience ,''''  wrote  Captain  Coates, 
'Hhere  is  so  projound  silence,  such  awful  precipices, 

356 


Extension  oj  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

no  lije,  that  the  ivorld  seems  asleep.  The  land  is  so 
tremendous  high  that  wind  and  water  reverberate 
between  the  clijjs  entering  two  miles  to  our  gulj. 
Inside  are  mountains,  groves,  cascades  and  vales 
adorned  with  trees.  On  the  Hudson  Bay  side  nothing 
is  seen  but  barren  rocks.  Inside,  all  is  green  with 
stately  woods.  .  .  .  On  the  high  mountains  is 
only  snow  moss;  lower,  a  sort  oj  rye  grass,  some  snow 
drops  and  violets  without  odor,  then  rows  oj  ever- 
greens down  to  the  very  sea.  On  the  right  oj  the  gidj 
is  Lady  Lakers  Grove  under  a  stupendous  mountain, 
whence  jails  a  cascade  through  the  grove  to  the  sea. 
In  short,  such  is  the  elegant  situation  oj  Richmond 
Fort  that  it  is  not  to  be  paralleled  in  the  world. ^^ 

Such  were  the  high  hopes  with  which  Richmond 
Fort  was  founded.  To-day  it  is  a  howHng  wilder- 
ness silent  as  death  but  for  the  rush  of  waters  heard 
when  white  men  first  entered  the  bay.  Partridge 
there  were  in  plenty  among  the  lonely  evergreens, 
and  game  for  trapping;  but  not  the  warmest  over- 
tures of  Chief  Factor  Potts  and  Mr.  Pollexfen  and 
Mr.  Isbister,  who  yearly  came  up  from  Albany, 
could  win  the  friendship  of  the  treacherous  Eskimos. 
They  would  not  hunt,  and  the  white  men  dare  not 
penetrate  far  enough  inland  to  make  their  trapping 
pay.  Potts  kept  his  men  whale  fishing  off  Whale 
River,  but  in  five  years  the  loss  to  the  Company  had 

357 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

totaled  more  than  ;,^24,ooo.  The  crisis  came  in 
1 754.  Day  and  night,  the  stealthy  shadow  of  Eskimo 
spies  moved  through  the  evergreens  of  the  gulf.  In 
vain  Potts  gave  the  chiefs  presents  of  gold-laced  suits, 
beaver  hats  with  plumes,  and  swords.  ''They 
shaked  my  hands,"  he  records,  "and  hugged  and 
embraced  and  smiled";  but  the  very  next  trapper, 
who  went  alone  to  the  woods,  or  attempted  to  drive 
his  dog  train  south  to  Whale  River,  would  see  Eskimos 
ambushed  behind  rocks  and  have  his  cache  rifled 
or  find  himself  overpowered  and  plundered.  One 
day  in  February,  Mr.  Pollexfen  had  gone  out  with 
his  men  from  Whale  River  trapping.  When  they 
returned  in  the  afternoon  they  found  the  cook  boy 
had  been  kidnapped  and  the  house  robbed  of  every 
object  that  could  be  carried  away — stores  of  ammu- 
nition, arms,  traps,  food,  clothes,  even  the  door 
hinges  and  iron  nails  of  the  structure. 

Waiting  only  till  it  was  dark,  the  terrified  hunters 
hitched  their  dog  sleighs  up,  tore  off  all  bells  that 
would  betray  flight,  and  drove  like  mad  for  the 
stronger  fort  of  Richmond.  Potts  hurriedly  sent  out 
orders  to  recall  his  trappers  from  the  hills  and 
manned  Richmond  for  siege.  It  was  four  days  be- 
fore all  the  men  came  under  shelter,  and  nightly  the 
Eskimos  could  be  heard  trying  to  scale  the  palisades. 
The  fort  was  so  short  of  provisions,  all  hands  were 

358 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

reduced  to  one  meal  a  day.  Potts  called  for  volun- 
teers, to  go  to  the  rescue  of  the  kidnapped  cook — a 
boy,  named  Matthew  Warden;  and  thirteen  men 
offered  to  go.  The  Eskimos  had  taken  refuge  on  the 
islands  of  the  outer  shore.  Frost-fog  thick  as  wool 
lay  on  the  bay.  Eskimos  were  seen  lurking  on  the 
hills  above  the  fort.  A  council  was  held.  It  was 
determined  to  catch  three  Eskimos  as  hostages  for 
the  cook's  safety  rather  than  risk  the  lives  of  thirteen 
men  outside  the  fort.  Some  ten  days  later,  when  a 
few  men  ventured  out  for  partridges,  the  forest 
again  came  to  life  with  Eskimo  spies.  Potts  recalled 
his  hunters,  sent  two  scouts  to  welcome  the  Eskimos 
to  the  fort  and  placed  all  hands  on  guard.  Three 
Indians  were  conducted  into  the  house.  In  a  twink- 
ling, fetters  were  clapped  on  two,  and  the  third  bade 
go  and  fetch  the  missing  white  boy  on  pain  of  death 
to  the  hostages.  The  stolid  Eskimo  affected  not  to 
understand.  Potts  laid  a  sword  across  the  throats 
of  the  two  prisoners  and  signaled  the  third  to  be 
gone.  The  fellow  needed  no  urging  but  scampered. 
"I  had  our  men,"  relates  Potts,  "one  by  one  pass 
through  the  guardroom  changing  their  dresses  every 
time  to  give  the  two  prisoners  the  idea  that  I  had  a 
large  garrison.  They  seemed  surprised  that  I  had 
one  hundred  men,  but  they  spoke  no  word."  The 
next  day,  the  fettered  prisoners  drew  knives  on  their 

359 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Great  Northwest 

guard,  seized  his  gun  and  clubbed  the  Company 
men  from  the  room.  In  the  scuffle  that  followed, 
both  Eskimos  were  shot.  The  danger  was  now 
increased  a  hundredfold.  Friendly  Montagnais 
Indians,  especially  one  named  Robinson  Crusoe, 
warned  Potts  that  if  the  shooting  were  known, 
nothing  could  save  the  fort.  The  bodies  were 
hidden  in  the  cellar  till  some  Montagnais  went  out 
one  dark  night  and  weighting  the  feet  with  stones, 
pushed  them  through  a  hole  in  the  ice.  How  quickly 
white  men  can  degenerate  to  savagery  is  well  illus- 
trated by  the  conduct  of  the  cooped-up,  starving 
garrison.  Before  sending  away  the  dead  bodies, 
they  cut  the  ears  from  each  and  preserved  them  in 
spirits  of  alcohol  to  send  down  by  Indian  scouts  to 
Isbister  at  Moose  with  a  letter  imploring  that  the 
sloop  come  to  the  rescue  as  soon  as  the  ice  cleared. 
For  two  months  the  siege  lasted.  Nothing  more 
was  ever  heard  of  the  captured  boy,  but  by  the  end 
of  May,  Isbister  had  sent  a  sloop  to  Richmond.  As 
told  elsewhere,  Richmond  was  dismantled  in  1778 
and  the  stores  carried  down  to  Whale  River  and 
East  Main. 

Important  changes  had  gradually  grown  up  in 
the  Adventurer's  methods.  White  servants  were  no 
longer  forbidden  to  circulate  with  the  Indians  but 
encouraged  to  go  out  to  the  hunting  field  and  paid 

360 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

bounties  on  their  trapping.  Three  men  had  been 
sent  out  from  York  in  January,  1772,  to  shoot  par- 
tridges for  the  fort.  It  was  a  mild,  open  winter.  The 
men  carried  provisions  to  last  three  weeks.  Striking 
back  through  the  marsh  land,  that  lies  between  Hayes 
and  Nelson  Rivers,  they  camped  for  the  first  night 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nelson.  The  next  morning, 
Tuesday,  the  7th  of  January,  they  were  crossing  the 
ice  of  the  Nelson's  broad  current  when  they  suddenly 
felt  the  rocking  of  the  tide  beneath  their  feet,  looked 
ahead,  saw  the  frost- smoke  of  open  water  and  to 
their  horror  realized  that  the  tidal  bore  had  loosened 
the  ice  and  they  were  adrift,  bearing  out  to  sea.  In 
vain,  dogs  and  men  dashed  back  for  the  shore.  The 
ice  floe  had  separated  from  the  land  and  was  rushing 
seaward  like  a  race  horse.  That  night  it  snowed. 
The  terrified  men  kept  watch,  hoping  that  the  high 
tide  would  carry  the  ice  back  to  some  of  the  long, 
low  sandbars  at  Port  Nelson.  The  tide  did  sway 
back  the  third  day  but  not  near  enough  for  a  landing. 
This  night,  they  put  up  their  leather  tents  and  slept 
drifting.  When  they  awakened  on  Friday  the  loth, 
they  were  driving  so  direct  for  the  shore  that  the 
three  men  simultaneously  dashed  to  gain  the  land, 
leaving  packs,  provisions,  tent  and  sleighs;  but  in 
vain.  A  tidal  wave  swept  the  floe  off  shore,  and 
when  they  set  back  for  their  camp,  they  were  appalled 

361 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

to  see  camp  kit,  sleds,  provisions,  all — drive  past 
afloat.  The  ice  floe  had  broken.  They  were  now 
adrift  without  food  or  shelter,  James  Ross  carrying 
gun,  powder  bag  and  blanket  over  his  shoulders  as 
he  had  risen  from  sleep,  Farrant  wearing  only  the 
beaver  coat  in  which  he  had  slept,  Tomson  bereft  of 
either  gun  or  blanket. 

This  time,  the  ebb  carried  them  far  into  the  bay 
where  they  passed  the  fourth  night  adrift.  The 
next  day,  wind  and  the  crumbling  of  the  ice  added  to 
their  terrors.  As  the  floe  went  to  pieces,  they  leaped 
from  float  to  float  trying  to  keep  together  on  the 
largest  icepan.  Farrant  fell  through  the  slush  to  his 
armpits  and  after  being  belted  tightly  in  his  beaver 
coat  lay  down  behind  a  wind-break  of  ice  blocks  to 
die.  Their  only  food  since  losing  the  tent  kit  had 
been  some  lumps  of  sugar  one  of  them  had  chanced  to 
have  in  his  pockets.  During  Saturday  night  the  nth 
of  January,  the  ice  grounded  and  great  seas  began 
sweeping  over  the  floe.  When  Ross  and  Tomson 
would  have  dragged  Farrant  to  a  higher  hummock 
of  the  ice  field,  they  found  that  he  was  dead.  On 
Monday,  the  weather  grew  cold  and  stormy.  Tom- 
son's  hands  had  swollen  so  that  he  could  not  move 
a  muscle  and  the  man  became  delirious,  raving  of  his 
Orkney  home  as  they  roamed  aimlessly  over  the 
inimitable  ice  fields.     That  night,  the  seventh  they 

362 


-w-«K5S7..^at:"fBH<aa 


»  -  V  .:i 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

had  been  adrift,  just  as  the  moon  sank  below  the 
sea,  the  Orkneyman,  Tomson,  breathed  his  last. 

Ross  was  now  alone.  A  great  ice  floe  borne  down 
by  a  wash  of  the  tide,  swept  away  Tomson' s  body. 
Ross  scrambled  upon  the  fresh  drift  and  hoping 
against  hope,  scarcely  able  to  believe  his  senses, 
saw  that  the  new  icepan  extended  to  the  land.  Half 
blinded  by  sun  glare,  hands  and  feet  frozen  stiff, 
now  laughing  hysterically,  now  crying  deliriously, 
the  fellow  managed  to  reach  shore,  but  when  the  sun 
set  he  lost  all  sense  of  direction  and  could  not  find 
his  way  farther.  That  night,  his  hands  were  so  stiff 
that  he  could  not  strike  a  light  on  his  flint,  but  by 
tramping  down  brushwood,  made  himself  a  bed  in 
the  snow.  Sunrise  gave  him  his  bearings  again  and 
through  his  half-delirium  he  realized  he  was  only 
four  miles  from  the  fort.  Partly  walking,  partly 
creeping,  he  reached  York  gates  at  seven  that  night. 
One  of  the  dogs  had  followed  him  all  the  way,  which 
probably  explains  how  he  was  not  frozen  sleeping 
out  uncovered  for  nine  nights.  Hands  and  feet  had 
to  be  amputated,  but  his  countrymen  of  Orkney 
took  up  a  subscription  for  him  and  the  Company 
gave  him  a  pension  of  £20  a  year  for  life.  The 
same  amount  was  bestowed  on  the  widows  of  the 
two  dead  men.  It  is  not  surprising  that  Hudson 
Bay  became  ill-omened  to  Orkneymen  who  heard 

363 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

such  tales  of  fur  hunting  as  have  been  related  of 
Richmond  and  York. 

But  the  Company  was  now  on  the  eve  of  the  most 
momentous  change  in  its  history.  Anthony  Hendry 
had  reported  how  the  French  traders  had  gone  up  the 
Saskatchewan  to  the  tribes  of  equestrian  Indians;  and 
Hendry  had  been  cashiered  for  his  pains.  Now  a  new 
fact  influenced  the  Company.  French  power  had 
fallen  at  Quebec,  in  1759. .  Instead  of  a  few  French 
traders  scattered  through  the  West,  were  thousands 
of  wildwood  rovers,  half-Indian,  half-French,  voy- 
ageurs  and  bush-lopers,  fled  from  the  new  laws  of  the 
new  English  regime  to  the  freedom  of  the  wilderness. 
Beyond  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  the  long  hand  of  the  law 
could  not  reach.  Beyond  the  Sault,  was  law  of 
neither  God  nor  man.  To  make  matters  worse, 
English  merchants,  who  had  flocked  to  Montreal 
and  Quebec,  now  outfitted  these  French  rovers  and 
personally  led  them  to  the  far  hunting  field  of  the 
Pays  d^en  Haul — a  term  that  meant  anything  from 
Lake  Superior  to  the  Pole.  The  English  Adven- 
turers sent  more  men  up  stream — up  the  Moose 
toward  Quebec  as  far  as  Abbittibbi,  up  the  Albany 
toward  what  is  now  Manitoba  past  Henley  House 
as  far  as  Osnaburg,  across  what  is  now  Keewatin 
toward  Lake  Superior  as  far  as  New  Brunswick 
House.     The  catch  of  furs  showed  a  decrease  every 

364 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

year.  Fewer  Indians  came  to  the  bay,  fewer  hunters 
to  the  outlying  fur  posts.  Dividends  dropped  from 
lo  to  8  and  from  8  to  6  and  from  6  to  5  per  cent. 
Instead  of  100,000  beaver  a  year  there  came  to  the 
London  market  only  40,000  and  50,000  a  year. 

To  stand  on  the  rights  of  monopoly  conferred  by 
an  ancient  charter  while  "interlopers  and  pedlars," 
as  the  Company  called  them — ran  away  with  the 
profits  of  that  monopoly,  was  like  standing  on  your 
dignity  with  a  thief  while  he  picked  your  pockets. 
The  "smug  ancient  gentlemen,"  as  enemies  desig- 
nated the  Company,  bestirred  themselves  mightily. 
Moses  Norton,  governor  of  Churchill,  was  no  more 
anxious  to  fight  the  French  Canadians  on  the  hunting 
field  now  than  he  had  been  in  the  days  of  Anthony 
Hendry,  but  being  half-Indian  he  knew  all  the  legends 
of  the  Indians — knew  that  even  if  the  French  already 
had  possession  of  the  Saskatchewan,  north  of  the 
Saskatchewan  was  an  unclaimed  kingdom,  whence 
no  white  man  had  yet  set  foot,  as  large  again  as  the 
bounds  of  Hudson  Bay. 

Besides,  the  Company  had  not  forgotten  those 
legends  of  minerals  in  the  North  which  had  lured 
Captain  Knight  to  his  death.  Chippewyan  Indians 
still  came  to  Churchill  with  huge  masses  of  amor- 
phous copper  strung  on  necklaces  or  battered  into 
rough  pots  and  pans  and  cooking  utensils.    Whence 

365 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

came  that  copper?  Oddly  enough,  the  world  cannot 
answer  that  question  yet.  The  Indians  said  from 
^'a  Far- Away-Metal  River"  that  ran  to  a  vast  sea 
where  the  tide  ebbed  and  flowed.  Once  more  hopes 
of  finding  a  Northwest  Passage  rose ;  once  more 
hopes  of  those  metals  that  had  led  Knight  to  ship- 
wreck. Norton  suggetsed  that  this  time  the  search 
should  be  made  by  land.  Serving  as  a  clerk  on  a 
brig  at  Churchill  was  a  well-educated  young  English- 
man already  mentioned — Samuel  Hearne. 

The  yearly  boats  that  came  to  Churchill  in  1769, 
commissioned  Hearne  for  this  expedition,  whose 
ostensible  object  was  the  finding  of  the  Metal  River 
now  known  as  the  Coppermine  but  whose  real  object 
was  the  occupation  of  a  vast  region  not  yet  pre- 
empted by  the  Canadians.  The  story  of  Hearne's 
travels  would  fill  a  volume.  Norton,  the  governor, 
was  a  curious  compound  of  ability  and  sham,  strength 
and  vice.  Born  of  an  Indian  mother  and  English 
father,  he  seemed  to  have  inherited  all  the  supersti- 
tions of  one  and  vices  of  the  other.  He  was  educated 
in  England  and  married  an  English  woman.  Yet 
when  he  came  to  the  wilderness,  he  had  a  seraglio 
of  native  wives  that  would  have  put  a  Mormon  to 
the  blush.  These  he  kept  apart  in  rudely  but  gor- 
geously furnished  apartments  to  which  he  alone  pos- 
sessed the  keys.     At  the  mess-room  table,  he  wearied 

366 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

the  souls  of  his  officers  by  long-winded  and  saintly 
sermons  on  virtue  which  were  expounded  as  regu- 
larly as  the  night  supper  came  round.  Did  some 
blackleg  expiating  dissipations  by  life  in  the  wilds 
judge  Norton's  sermons  by  his  conduct  and  emulate 
his  example  rather  than  his  precepts,  Norton  had 
the  culprit  tied  to  the  triangle  and  flogged  till  his 
back  was  raw.  An  Indian  is  never  a  hypocrite. 
Why  would  he  be?  His  code  is  to  do  as  he  wishes, 
to  follow  his  desires,  to  be  stronger  than  his  enemies, 
to  impose  on  the  weak.  He  has  no  religion  to  hold 
a  higher  example  up  like  a  mirror  that  reflects  his 
own  face  as  loathsome,  and  he  has  no  science  to  teach 
him  that  what  religion  calls  ''evil"  means  in  the  long 
run,  wretchedness  and  rottenness  and  ruin.  But 
the  hypocrisy  in  Norton  was  the  white  man  strain — 
the  fig  leaf  peculiar  to  civilized  man — living  a  lie  so 
long  that  he  finally  believes  the  lie  himself.  Knowl- 
edge of  white  man's  science,  Norton  had;  but  to  the 
Indian  in  him,  it  was  still  mystery;  "medicine,"  a 
secret  means  to  kill  an  enemy,  arsenic  in  medicine, 
laudanum  in  whiskey,  or  poison  that  caused  con- 
vulsions to  an  Indian  who  refused  either  a  daughter 
for  the  seraglio  or  beaver  at  Norton's  terms.  A 
white  man  who  could  wield  such  power  was  to  the 
Indians  a  god,  and  Norton  held  them  in  the  hollow 
of  his  hand.     Equally  successful  was  the  half-breed 

367 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

governor  managing  the  governing  committee  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  London;  for  he  sent 
them  enormous  returns  in  beaver  at  small  outlay. 

Seven  great  guns  roared  their  God-speed  as  the 
fort  gates  opened  and  Hearne  sped  out  by  dog  train 
for  his  inland  trip  north  pn  November  6,  1769. 
Norton  waved  a  farewell  and  Hearne  disappeared 
over  the  rolling  drifts  with  two  Indians  as  guides, 
two  white  men  as  packers  to  look  after  provisions. 
Striking  northwest,  Hearne  was  joined  by  other 
traveling  Indians.  Bitterly  cold  weather  set  in. 
One  Indian  guide  deserted  the  first  night  out  and 
the  other  proved  himself  an  impudent  beggar,  who 
camped  when  it  was  cold  and  camped  when  it  was 
wet  and  paused  to  hunt  when  it  was  fair,  but  laid 
up  no  stock  of  provisions,  giving  Hearne  plainly  to 
understand  that  the  whole  Indian  cavalcade  looked 
to  the  white  men's  sleighs  for  food.  The  travelers 
did  not  make  ten  miles  a  day.  At  the  end  of  the 
month  Hearne  wakened  one  morning  to  find  his 
stores  plundered  and  gales  of  laughter  ringing  back 
as  the  Indians  marched  off  with  their  booty.  Not 
even  guns  were  left.  Rabbit  and  partridge-snaring 
saved  the  three  white  men  from  starving  as  they 
retreated.  They  were  safe  inside  the  fort  once 
more  by  December  1 1 .  Hearne's  object  setting  out 
in  midwinter  had  been  to  reach  the  North  before 

368 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

summer,  and  nothing  daunted,  he  again  set  forth 
with  five  fresh  guides  on  February  23,  1770,  again 
depending  on  snares  for  food.  April  saw  the 
marchers  halted  on  the  borders  of  the  Barren  Lands, 
scouring  the  wide  wastes  of  treeless  swamps  and  rock 
for  game.  Caribou  had  retreated  inland  and  not  yet 
begun  their  traverse  to  the  bay.  Until  wild  fowls 
came  winging  north,  the  camp  lived  on  snow  water, 
tobacco  and  such  scraps  of  leather  and  dried  meat 
as  had  not  already  been  devoured.  A  chance  herd 
of  wandering  deer  relieved  the  famine  till  June, 
when  rations  were  again  reduced;  this  time,  to  wild 
cranberries.  Then  the  traverse  of  the  caribou  herds 
came — a  rush  of  countless  myriads  with  the  tramp 
of  an  army  and  the  clicking  of  a  multitude  of  horns 
from  west  to  east  for  weeks.  Indians  had  gathered 
to  the  traverse  in  hundreds.  Moss  served  as  fuel. 
Provisions  were  abundant.  Hearne  had  almost  de- 
cided to  winter  with  the  wandering  Chippewyans 
when  they  again  began  to  plunder  his  store  of  am- 
munition. Wind  had  smashed  some  of  the  survey 
instruments,  so  he  joined  a  band  of  Iiunters  on  their 
way  to  the  fort,  which  he  reached  on  November  25. 
Hearne  had  not  found  "  Far- A  way-Metal-River," 
nor  the  copper  mines,  nor  the  Northwest  Passage, 
but  he  had  found  fresh  tribes  of  Indians,  and  these 
were  what  Norton  wanted.     December  7,  1770,  less 

369 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

than  a  month  from  his  home-coming,  Hearne  was 
again  dispatched  by  Norton.  Matonabbee,  a  famous 
guide  of  the  Chippewyans,  accompanied  the  explorer 
with  a  retinue  of  the  Indian's  wives  to  draw  sleds 
and  handle  baggage.  Almost  as  notable  as  Norton 
was  Matonabbee,  the  Chippewyan  chief — an  Indian 
of  iron  constitution  and  iron  will,  pitiless  to  his  wives, 
whom  he  used  as  beasts  of  burden;  relentless  in  his 
aims,  fearless  of  all  Indians,  a  giant  measuring  more 
than  six  feet,  straight  as  an  arrow,  supple  as  willow, 
hard  as  nails.  Imperturbable  and  good-natured 
Matonabbee  set  the  pace  at  winged  speed,  pausing 
for  neither  hunger  nor  cold.  Christmas  week  was 
celebrated  by  fasting.  Matonabbee  uttered  no  com- 
plaint; and  the  white  man  could  not  well  turn  back 
when  the  Indian  was  as  eager  for  the  next  day's 
march  as  if  he  had  supped  sumptuously  instead  of 
going  to  bed  on  a  meal  of  moss  water.  Self-pity, 
fear,  hesitation,  were  emotions  of  which  the  guide 
knew  nothing.  He  had  undertaken  to  lead  Hearne 
to  "Far-Away-Metal-River,"  and  only  death  could 
stop  him. 

In  the  Barren  Lands,  caribou  enough  were  killed 
to  afford  the  whole  company  provisions  for  six 
months;  and  the  marchers  were  joined  by  two 
hundred  more  Indians.  Wood  became  scarcer  and 
smaller  as  they  marched  north.     Matonabbee  halted 

370 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

in  April  and  ordered  his  wives  to  camp  while  the 
men  made  dugouts  for  the  voyage  down  stream. 
The  boats  were  heavy  in  front  to  resist  the  ice  jams. 
If  Hearne  had  marveled  at  the  large  company  now 
following  Matonabbee  to  a  hard,  dangerous  hunting 
field  he  quickly  guessed  good  reasons  when  wives 
and  children  were  ordered  to  head  westward  and 
await  the  warrior's  return  at  Lake  Athabasca. 
Women  are  ordered  away  only  when  there  is  prospect 
of  war,  and  Hearne  could  easily  surmise  whence  the 
Chippewyans  annually  obtained  eleven  thousand 
of  their  best  beaver  pelts.  The  sun  no  longer  set. 
It  was  continual  day,  and  on  June  12,  1771,  the 
swamps  of  the  Barrens  converged  to  a  narrow,  rocky 
river  bed  whence  roared  a  misty  cataract — "Far- 
Off-Metal-River" — the  Coppermine  River,  without 
any  sign  of  the  ebbing  tide  that  was  to  lead  to  the 
South  Sea.  When  Hearne  came  back  to  his  Indian 
companions  from  the  river  bed,  he  found  them 
stripped  and  daubed  in  war  paint,  gliding  as  if  in 
ambush  from  stone  to  stone  down  the  steep  declivity 
of  the  waterfall.  Then  far  below  the  rapids,  like  the 
tops  of  big  bowlders,  appeared  the  rounded  leather 
tent-peaks  of  an  Eskimo  camp.  The  Eskimos  were 
apparently  sound  asleep,  for  it  was  midnight  though 
as  light  as  day. 

Before  Hearne  could  collect  his  senses  or  alarm 
371 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  sleeping  victims,  he  had  been  left  far  to  the  rear 
by  his  villainous  comrades.  Then  occurred  one  of 
the  most  deplorable  tragedies  in  the  history  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Such  of  the  horrors  as 
are  tellable,  I  have  told  elsewhere  in  the  account  of 
Hearne's  travels.  The  raiders  fell  on  the  Eskimos 
like  wolves  on  the  sheep  fold.  Not  content  with 
plundering  the  camp  of  beaver  pelts,  they  speared, 
stabbed,  bludgeoned,  men,  women,  children,  old 
and  young,  till  the  river  ran  red  with  innocent  blood. 
Rushing  forward,  Hearne  implored  Matonabbee  to 
stop  the  slaughter,  Matonabbee's  response  was  a 
shout  of  laughter.  What  were  the  weak  for  but  to 
be  the  victims  of  the  strong?  What  did  these  fool- 
Eskimos  toil  for  but  to  render  tribute  of  their  toil 
to  him,  who  had  the  force  to  take?  The  doctrine 
was  not  a  new  one.  Neither  is  it  yet  old;  only  we 
moderns  do  our  bludgeoning  with  financial  coercion, 
competition,  monopoly  or  what  not,  instead  of  the 
butt  end  of  a  gun,  or  stone  spear;  and  it  would  be 
instructive  to  know  if  philosophers  in  a  thousand 
years  will  consider  our  methods  as  barbarous  as  we 
consider  the  savages  of  two  hundred  years  ago. 

The  tortures  of  that  raid  have  no  place  in  a  history 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  They  are  told  in 
Hearne's  life,  and  they  haunted  the  explorer  like  a 
bloody  nightmare.     One    day    later,    on    July   17, 

372 


I 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

Hearne  stood  on  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  ocean — 
the  first  white  man  to  witness  the  tossing  ice  floes 
of  that  green,  lone,  paleocrystic  sea;  but  his  vision 
was  not  the  exaltation  of  an  explorer.  It  was  a 
hideous  memory  of  young  girls  speared  bodily 
through  and  through  and  left  writhing  pinioned  to 
the  ground;  of  young  boys  whose  hearts  were  torn 
out  and  devoured  while  warm;  of  old  men  and 
women  gouged,  buffeted,  beaten  to  death.  It  does 
not  make  a  pretty  picture,  that  doctrine  of  the  suprem- 
acy of  strength,  the  survival  of  the  fit,  the  extermi- 
nation of  the  weak — it  does  not  make  a  pretty  picture 
when  you  reduce  it  to  terms  of  the  physical.  How 
quickly  wild-beast  savagery  may  reduce  men  to  the 
level  of  beasts  was  witnessed  as  Hearne  rested  on  the 
shores  of  the  Arctic — a  musk  ox  was  shot.  The 
warriors  tore  it  to  pieces  and  devoured  it  raw. 

Retreating  up  the  shelving  rocks  of  the  Copper- 
mine twenty  miles,  Hearne  found  what  he  thought 
were  the  copper  mines  from  which  the  Indians  made 
their  metal  weapons.  The  company  then  struck 
westward  for  the  famous  Athabasca  region  where 
the  wives  were  to  camp  for  the  winter.  Athabasca 
proved  a  hunter's  paradise  as  it  has  been  ever  since 
Hearne  discovered  it.  Beaver  abounded  in  the 
swampy  muskegs.  Buffalo  roamed  to  the  south. 
Moose  yards  were  found  in  the  wooded  bluffs;  mink, 

373 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

marten,  fox,  every  fur  bearer  which  the  English 
Adventurers  sought.  In  spring,  a  flotilla  carried 
the  Indians  down  to  Churchill,  where  Hearne  arrived 
on  June  30,  1772. 

The  geographical  importance  of  Hearne's  dis- 
covery— the  fact  that  he  had  found  a  region  half 
the  size  of  European  Russia  and  proved  that  not  a 
narrow  strip  of  land  lay  between  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  but  a  vast  continent — was  eclipsed  by  the 
importance  of  his  discoveries  for  the  fur  traders. 
The  region  must  be  occupied  by  the  English  Com- 
pany before  the  French  Canadians  found  it.  Old 
Moses  Norton  sick  unto  death  hastened  to  send  word 
to  the  governing  committee  in  London,  and  the 
governing  committee  voted  Hearne  a  present  of 
;£2oo,  £10  a  year  for  a  valet,  £130  a  year  as  a  salary, 
and  promotion  as  governor  on  Norton's  death,  which 
occurred  on  December  29,  1773. 

The  death  of  Norton  was  of  a  piece  with  his  life. 
The  bully  fell  ill  of  some  deadly  intestinal  trouble 
that  caused  him  as  excruciating  tortures  as  ever  his 
poisons  had  caused  his  victims.  Calling  the  officers 
of  the  fort,  he  publicly  made  his  will,  leaving  all  his 
savings  to  his  wife  in  England  but  directing  that  she 
should  yearly  set  aside  ;!(^io  for  the  clothing  of  his 
Indian  wives  at  Churchill.  As  the  Indian  women 
stood  round  the  dying  tyrant's  bed  his  eye  detected 

374 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

an  officer  whispering  to  one  of  the  young  Indian 
wives.  With  a  roar,  Norton  leaped  to  his  feet  in 
the  bed. 

"You ,"  he  roared,    "I'll   burn 

you  alive!    I'll  burn  you  alive " 

The  effort  cost  the  bully  his  life.  He  fell  back 
dead — he  whose  hand  had  tyrannized  over  the  fort  for 
fifty  years,  a  mass  of  corrupting  flesh  which  men 
hurriedly  put  out  of  sight.  Hearne  was  called  from 
the  Saskatchewan  to  become  governor  and  under- 
take the  opening  of  the  inland  trade.  Hearne's 
report  on  his  trip  to  the  Coppermine  and  Athabasca 
was  received  at  London  in  November,  1772.  In 
May  of  1773,  the  minutes  recorded  "that  the  com- 
pany having  under  consideration  the  interruptions 
to  the  trade  from  the  Canadian  Pedlars  as  reported 
by  Isaac  Batts  at  Basquia,  do  decide  on  mature  de- 
liberation to  send  Samuel  Hearne  to  establish  a  fort 
at  Basquia  with  Mr.  Cocking."  They  were  accom- 
panied by  Louis  Primo,  John  Cole  and  half  a  dozen 
French  renegades,  who  had  been  bribed  to  desert  from 
the  Canadians — in  all  seventeen  men.  Hearne  did 
better  than  he  was  instructed.  Leaving  Batts,  Louis 
Primo  and  the  Frenchmen  at  Basquia  to  compete 
against  the  Canadians,  he  established  Cumberland 
House  far  above,  on  the  Saskatchewan,  at  Sturgeon 
Lake,  where  the  Indians  could  be  intercepted  before 

375 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

they  came  down  to  the  French  posts.  Traders  inland 
were  paid  £/\.o  a  year  with  a  bounty  of  £2  when  they 
signed  their  contract  and  a  bonus  of  a  shilling  for 
every  twenty  beaver. 

When  Hearne  was  recalled  to  Churchill  to  become 
governor,  Matthew  Cocking  was  left  superintendent 
of  inland  trade.  Cocking  had  earned  laurels  for 
himself  by  a  voyage  almost  as  important  as  Hearne's. 
The  very  week  that  Hearne  came  back  to  Churchill 
at  the  end  of  June,  1772,  from  the  Athabasca,  Cock- 
ing had  set  out  from  York  for  the  South  Saskatche- 
wan. He  accompanied  the  Assiniboines  returning 
from  their  yearly  trip  to  the  bay.  By  the  end  of 
July  he  had  crossed  the  north  end  of  Lake  Winnipeg 
and  gone  up  the  Saskatchewan  to  Basquia.  Louis 
Primo,  the  renegade  Frenchman,  was  met  leading  a 
flotilla  of  canoes  down  to  Hudson  Bay,  and  it  must 
have  afforded  Cocking  great  satisfaction  to  see  that 
the  activity  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had 
forced  the  French  Canadians  to  desert  both  their 
posts  on  the  lower  Saskatchewan.  He  passed  the 
empty  houses  on  the  banks  of  the  river  where  the 
leaders  of  the  French-Canadians  had  had  their  forts, 
Findlay's  and  Frobisher's  and  Curry's.  Leaving 
canoes  somewhere  eastward  of  the  Forks,  Cocking 
struck  south  for  the  country  of  the  Blackfeet  at  the 
foothills  of  the  Rockies,  near  what  is  now  the  Inter- 

376 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

national  Boundary.  The  South  Saskatchewan  was 
crossed  at  the  end  of  August  in  bull-boats — tub-like 
craft  made  of  parchment  stretched  on  willows.  In 
the  Eagle  Hills,  Cocking  met  French  traders,  who 
had  abandoned  civilized  life  and  joined  the  Indian 
tribes.  The  Eagle  Hills  were  famous  as  the  place 
where  the  Indians  got  tent  poles  and  birch  bark 
before  crossing  the  plains  to  the  east  and  south.  ' 
Cocking  spent  the  winter  with  the  Blackfeet  and 
the  Bloods  and  the  Piegans  and  the  Sarcees,  whom 
he  names  as  the  Confederacy  of  Waterfall  Indians,  • 
owing  to  the  numerous  cataracts  on  the  upper  reaches 
of  Bow  River.  He  was  amazed  to  find  fields  of; 
cultivated  tobacco  among  the  Blackfeet  and  con-  \ 
sidered  the  tribe  more  like  Europeans  than  any 
Indians  he  had  ever  met.  The  winter  was  spent 
hunting  buffalo  by  means  of  the  famous  "pounds."  , 
Buffalo  were  pursued  by  riders  into  a  triangular  en- 
closure of  sticks  round  a  large  field.  Behind  the 
fences  converging  to  a  point  hid  the  hunters,  whose 
cries  and  clappings  frightened  the  herds  into  rushing 
precipitately  to  the  converging  angle.  Here  was 
either  a  huge  hole,  or  the  natural  drop  over  the  bank 
of  a  ravine,  where  the  buffalo  tum.bied,  mass  after 
mass  of  infuriated  animals,  literally  bridging  a  path 
for  the  living  across  the  bodies  of  the  dead.  The 
Blackfeet  hunters  thought  nothing  of  riding  for  a 

377 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

hundred  miles  to  round  up  the  scattered  herds  to  one 
of  these  "pounds"  or  ''corrals."  All  that  Hendry  had 
said  of  the  Blackfeet  twenty  years  before,  Cocking 
found  to  be  true.  All  were  riders — men,  women,  chil- 
dren— the  first  tribes  Cocking  had  yet  met  where 
women  were  not  beasts  of  burden.  The  tribe  had 
earthen  pots  for  cooking  utensils,  used  moss  for  tinder, 
and  recorded  the  history  of  the  people  in  rude  drawings 
on  painted  buffalo  robes.  In  fact,  Cocking's  descrip- 
tion of  the  tribal  customs  might  be  an  account  of  the 
Iroquois.  The  Blackfeet's  entire  lives  were  spent 
doing  two  things — hunting  and  raiding  the  Snakes 
of  the  South  for  horses.  Men  and  women  captives 
were  tortured  with  shocking  cruelty  that  made  the 
Blackfeet  a  terror  to  all  enemies;  but  young  captives 
were  adopted  into  the  tribe  after  the  custom  followed 
by  the  Iroquois  of  the  East.  Of  food,  there  was 
always  plenty  from  the  buffalo  hunts;  and  game 
abounded  from  the  Saskatchewan  Forks  to  the 
mountains. 

When  Cocking  tried  to  persuade  the  Blackfeet 
to  come  down  to  the  fort  with  furs,  they  were  re- 
luctant. They  did  not  understand  canoe  travel 
and  could  not  take  their  horses,  and  why  should  they 
go  down?  The  Assiniboines  would  trade  the  furs 
for  firearms  to  be  brought  to  the  Blackfeet.  Cocking 
pointed  out  that  with  more  firearms,  they  could  be 

378 


pyl 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

masters  of  the  entire  country  and  by  dint  of  present- 
ing cocked  hats  and  swords  and  gold-laced  red  coats 
to  the  chiefs,  induced  them  to  promise  not  to  trade 
with  "the  Canadian  Pedlars."  "We  have  done  all 
in  our  power  to  keep  them  from  trading  with  Fran- 
cois or  Curry,  who  lie  at  the  Portage  (the  Rapids) 
of  the  Saskatchewan  to  intercept  the  natives  coming 
to  us." 

On  May  i6,  1773,  Cocking  set  out  to  return  to  the 
fort.  For  the  first  time,  a  few  young  Blackfeet 
joined  the  canoes  going  to  York.  At  the  Forks,  two 
rival  camps  were  found,  that  of  Louis  Primo  who 
had  come  over  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  from  the  French, 
and  old  Francois  working  for  the  French  Canadians. 
The  English  traders  had  no  liquor.  Four  gallons 
of  rum  diluted  with  water  won  the  Indians  over  to 
old  Francois,  the  Canadian,  who  picked  out  one 
hundred  of  the  rarest  skins  and  was  only  hindered 
taking  the  entire  hunt  because  he  had  no  more 
goods  to  trade.  Francois'  house  was  a  long  log 
structure  divided  into  two  sections,  half  for  a  kitchen 
and  mess  room,  half  for  a  trading  room,  and  the  furs 
were  kept  in  the  loft.  Outside,  were  two  or  three 
log  cabins  for  Francois'  white  men,  of  whom  he  had 
twenty.  Round  all  ran  ten-foot  stockades  against 
which  lay  the  great  canoes  twenty-four  feet  long, 
twenty-two  inches  deep,  which  carried  the  furs  to 

379 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Lake  Superior.  Cocking,  who  was  used  to  factors 
ruling  like  little  kings,  was  shocked  to  find  old 
Francois  "an  ignorant  Frenchman,  who  did  not 
keep  his  men  at  proper  distance  and  had  no  watch 
at  night.  It  surprises  me,"  he  writes,  "to  observe 
what  a  warm  side  the  natives  hath  to  the  French 
Canadians." 

Down  at  Grand  Rapids  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Saskatchewan,  Cocking  received  another  shock. 
Louis  Primo  and  those  Frenchmen  bribed  to  join  the 
Hudson's  Bay,  who  had  gone  on  from  the  Forks 
ahead  of  Cocking,  were  to  join  him  at  the  last  por- 
tage of  the  Saskatchewan  to  go  down  to  York.  He 
found  that  they  had  gone  back  to  the  French  bag 
and  baggage  with  all  their  furs  and  goods  supplied 
by  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  were  already  halfway 
down  to  Lake  Superior.  Spite  of  being  only  "an 
ignorant  old  Frenchman,"  Francois  had  played  a 
crafty  game.  By  June  i8.  Cocking  was  back  at 
York. 

But  the  Company  did  not  content  itself  with  oc- 
casional expeditions  inland.  Henceforth  "patroons 
of  the  woods,"  as  they  were  called,  were  engaged  to 
live  inland  with  the  Indians  and  collect  furs.  Fifty- 
one  men  were  regularly  kept  at  Cumberland  House, 
and  a  bonus  of  £20  a  year  regularly  paid  to  the 
patroons.    Whenever  a  Frenchman  could  be  bribed 

380 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

to  come  over  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  traders,  he  was 
engaged  at  £ioo  a  year.  Bonuses  above  salaries 
amounted  to  ;^2oo  a  year  for  the  factors,  to  £40  for 
the  traders,  to  ;^8o  for  traveling  servants.  The 
Company  now  had  a  staff  of  five  hundred  white  men 
on  the  field  and  ten  times  as  many  Indians.  In 
1785,  Robert  Longmore  is  engaged  to  explore  inland 
up  Churchill  River  as  far  as  Athabasca,  where,  in 
1799,  Malcolm  Ross  is  permanently  placed  as  chief 
trader  at  £80  a  year.  In  1795,  Joseph  Howse  is 
sent  inland  from  York  to  explore  the  Rockies,  where 
he  gives  his  name  to  a  pass,  and  "it  is  resolved  that 
forts  shall  be  erected  in  this  country  too."  John 
Davidson  explores  the  entire  coast  of  Labrador  on 
the  east;  and  on  the  west  of  Hudson  Bay  Charles 
Duncan  reports  finally  and,  as  far  as  the  Company  is 
concerned,  forever — there  is  no  navigable  North- 
west Passage.  In  all,  the  Company  has  spent 
£100,000  seeking  that  mythical  passage,  which  is 
now  written  off  as  total  loss.  Up  at  Marble  Island, 
the  sea  still  takes  toll  of  the  brave,  and  James  Mouat, 
the  whaler,  is  buried  in  1773,  beside  Captain  Knight. 
At  this  stage  too,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  12,000  gallons 
of  brandy  are  yearly  sent  into  the  country. 

It  was  in  1779  that  The  King  George  ship  beat 
about  the  whole  summer  in  the  ice  without  entering 
York  and  was  compelled  to  unload  its  cargo  at 

381 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

Churchill,  for  which  Captain  Fowler  was  suspended 
and  lost  his  gratuity  of  £ioo. 

Such  strenuous  efforts  brought  big  rewards  in 
beaver,  seventy,  and  eighty,  and  ninety  thousand  a 
year  to  London,  but  the  expenses  of  competition  had 
increased  so  enormously  that  dividends  had  fallen 
from  lo  to  5  per  cent.  I  suppose  it  was  to  impress 
the  native  mind  with  the  idea  of  pomp,  but  about 
this  time  I  find  the  Company  furnished  all  its  officers 
with  "brass-barreled  pistols,  swords  with  inlaid 
handles,  laced  suits  and  cocked  hats."  A  more  per- 
fect example  of  the  English  mind's  inability  to  grasp 
American  conditions  could  not  be  found  than  an 
entry  in  the  expense  book  of  1784  when  the  Com- 
pany buys  "150  tracts  on  the  Country  Clergyman's 
Advice  to  Parishioners^'  for  distribution  among 
North  American  Indians,  who  could  not  read  any 
language  let  alone  English. 

It  was  no  longer  a  policy  of  drift  but  drive,  and  in 
the  midst  of  this  came  the  shock  of  the  French  war. 
All  hands  were  afield  from  Churchill  but  thirty-nine 
white  servants  one  sleepy  afternoon  on  August  8, 
1782,  and  Governor  Hearne  was  busy  trading  with 
some  Indians  whom  Matonabbee  had  brought  down, 
when  the  astounding  apparition  appeared  of  a  fleet 
at  sea.  No  appointed  signals  were  displayed  by 
the  incoming  ships — they  were  not  Company  ships, 

382 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

and  they  anchored  five  miles  from  the  fort  to  sound. 
Churchill  had  not  heard  of  war  between  France  and 
England.  No  alarm  was  felt.  The  fort  had  been 
forty  years  in  building  and  was  one  of  the  strongest 
in  America,  constructed  of  stone  with  forty  great 
guns  and  an  outer  battery  to  prevent  approach. 
Probably  intending  to  send  out  a  boat  the  next 
morning,  Hearne  went  comfortably  to  bed.  At 
three  in  the  morning,  which  was  as  light  as  day, 
somebody  noticed  that  four  hundred  armed  men 
had  landed  not  far  from  the  fort  and  were  marching 
in  regular  military  order  for  the  gates.  Too  late,  a 
reveille  sounded  and  bells  rang  to  arms.  Hearne 
dashed  out  with  two  men  and  met  the  invaders  half- 
way. Then  he  learned  that  the  fleet  was  part  of  the 
French  navy  and  the  four  hundred  invaders  regular 
marines  under  the  great  ofhcer — La  Perouse.  Re- 
sistance was  impossible  now.  The  guns  of  the  fort 
were  not  even  manned.  The  garrison  was  too  small 
to  permit  one  man  to  a  gun.  At  six  in  the  morning, 
the  British  flag  was  lowered  and  a  white  tablecloth 
of  surrender  run  up  on  the  pole.  Hearne  and  the 
officers  were  taken  on  board  prisoners  of  war.  Then 
the  rough  soldiery  ran  riot.  Furs,  stores,  docu- 
ments— all  were  plundered,  and  a  second  day  spent 
blowing  up  the  fortifications.  Buildings  were  burned 
but  the  French  were  unable  to  do  serious  damage  to 

383 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

the  walls.  Matonabbee  the  great  chief  looked  on  in 
horror.  He  had  thought  his  English  friends  invin- 
cible, and  now  he  saw  his  creed  of  brute  strength 
turned  upon  them  and  upon  himself.  No  longer 
he  smiled  contemptuously  at  the  horror.  It  was  one 
thing  to  glory  in  the  survival  of  the  strong — another 
to  be  the  under  dog.  Matonabbee  drew  away  out- 
side the  walls  and  killed  himself.  Old  Norton's 
widows  and  children  were  scattered.  On  one  the 
hardships  fell  with  peculiar  harshness.  His  daughter 
Marie  he  had  always  nurtured  as  a  white  girl.  She 
fled  in  terror  of  her  life  from  the  bnital  soldiery  and 
perished  of  starvation  outside  the  walls. 

Hearne  has  been  blamed  for  two  things  in  this  sur- 
render, for  not  making  some  show  of  resistance  and 
for  not  sending  scouts  overland  south  to  warn  York. 
For  thirty-nine  men  to  have  fought  four  hundred 
would  have  invited  extermination,  and  Hearne  did 
not  know  that  the  invaders  were  enemies  till  he 
himself  was  captured  and  so  could  not  send  word  to 
York.  What  he  might  have  done  was  earlier  in  the 
game.  If  he  had  sent  out  a  pilot  to  guide  the  ships 
into  Churchill  Harbor,  it  might  have  led  the  enemy 
to  wreck  among  reefs  and  sandbars. 

On  the  third  day,  the  three  French  men-of-war 
set  sail  for  York,  leaving  Churchill  in  flames.  Out- 
ward bound,  one  of  the  Company  ships  was  sighted 

384 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 

coming  into  Churchill.  The  French  gave  chase  till 
seven  in  the  evening,  but  the  English  captain  led  off 
through  such  shoal  water  the  French  desisted  with 
a  single  chance  volley  in  the  direction  of  the  fleeing 
fur  ship. 

On  August  20,  the  Company  ship  lying  at  York 
observed  a  strange  fleet  some  twenty  miles  off  shore 
landing  men  on  Nelson  River  behind  York,  which 
faced  Hayes  River.  From  plans  taken  at  Churchill, 
La  Perouse  had  learned  that  York  was  weakest  to  the 
rear.  There  were  in  the  fort  at  that  time  sixty  Eng- 
lish and  twelve  Indians  with  some  twenty-five  cannon 
and  twelve  swivel  guns  on  the  galleries.  There  was 
a  supply  of  fresh  water  inside  the  fort  with  thirty 
head  of  cattle;  but  a  panic  prevailed.  All  the  guns 
were  overset  to  prevent  the  French  using  them,  and 
the  English  ship  scudded  for  sea  at  nightfall. 

The  French  meanwhile  had  marched  across  the 
land  behind  York  and  now  presented  themselves  at 
the  gates.  The  governor,  Humphry  Martin,  wel- 
comed them  with  a  white  flag  in  his  hand.  Umfre- 
ville,  who  gives  the  account  of  the  surrender,  was 
among  the  captured.  His  disgust  knew  no  bounds. 
"The  enemy's  ships  lay  at  least  twenty  miles  from 
the  factory  in  a  boisterous  sea,"  he  writes,  "and 
could  not  co-operate  with  the  troops  on  shore.  The 
troops  had  no  supplies.    Cold,  hunger  and  fatigue 

385 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

were  hourly  working  in  our  favor.  The  factory  was 
not  in  want  of  a  single  thing  to  withstand  siege. 
The  people  showed  no  fear  but  the  reverse.  Yet 
the  English  governor  surrendered  without  firing  a 
gun." 

The  French  did  not  attempt  to  occupy  the  forts, 
which  they  had  captured,  but  retired  with  the  officers 
as  prisoners,  and  with  the  plunder.  By  October 
the  Company  had  received  letters  from  the  prison 
at  Dinan  Castle,  France,  asking  for  the  ransom  of 
the  men.  By  May,  the  ransomed  men  were  in 
London,  and  by  June  back  at  their  posts  on  the  bay. 

Notes  to  Chapter  XIX. — As  stated  elsewhere,  Cocking  classi- 
fied the  Blackfeet  Confederacy  as  Waterfall  Indians,  composed 
of  Powestic  Athinuewuck,  Mithco  Athinuewuck,  (Blood); 
Koskiton  Wathesitock  (Blackfeet) ;  Pegonow  (Piegan) ;  Sasse- 
wuck  (Sarcee).  Cocking's  Journal  is  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany House,  London,  and  in  the  Canadian  Archives,  Ottawa. 

The  account  of  Hearne's  Voyages  will  be  found  in  "Path- 
finders of  the  West,"  or  in  the  accounts  by  himself,  (i)  the  report 
submitted  to  the  H.  B.  C,  (2)  his  published  journals  in  French 
and  English,  of  which  I  used  the  French  edition  of  1799,  which 
is  later  and  fuller  than  either  his  report  to  the  H.  B.  C.  or  the 
English  book. 

I  find  the  beaver  receipts  of  this  period  as  follows: 

A.  F.  (Albany  Fort) 21,454 

M.  R.  (Moose) 8,860 

E.  M.  (East  Main) 7,626 

YF.  &  SF.  (York  &  Severn) 37,861 

C.  R.  (Churchill) 9,400 

Churchill  and  York,  of  course,   included  the    inland    trade. 

In  1777,  the  minutes  record  the  dismissal  of  Thomas  Kelsey 
for  ill  behavior  at  P,  of  Wales  (Churchill);  the  last  of  Henry 
Kelsey 's  line. 

386 


Extension  of  Trade  Toward  Labrador 


In  1779,  December,  the  warehouse  of  Lime  Street  was  burned 
and  all  the  records  without  which  this  history  could  not  have 
been  written — narrowly  escaped  destruction. 

In  1797,  communication  was  opened  by  way  of  London  with 
the  Russian  fur  traders  of  the  west  coast.  In  this  year,  too, 
95,000  beaver  was  the  total. 

The  sums  paid  to  ransom  the  officer,  ran  all  the  way  from 
£6,000  to  £4,000,  so  that  it  is  no  wonder,  though  receipts  were 
large,  there  were  no  dividends  this  year. 

I  find  in  the  minutes  of  1777,  Samuel  Hearne  orders  £ao 
yearly  to  Sarah  La  Petite,  from  which  one  may  guess  that 
Samuel  had  personal  reasons  for  giving  such  a  black  picture  of 
Moses  Norton. 

In  1780,  Andrew  Graham,  whose  journals  give  a  great  picture 
of  this  period,  asks  that  his  Indian  boy  be  sent  home. 

In  1782,  the  following  names,  famous  in  Manitoba  history, 
came  into  the  lists  of  the  officers  of  the  Company:  Clouston, 
Ballantine,  Linklater,  Spencer,  Sutherland,  Kipling,  Ross, 
Isbister,  Umfreville. 

It  was  in  1787  that  the  fearful  ravages  of  smallpox  reduced 
the  Indian  population.  This  year  of  plague  deserves  a  chapter 
by  itself,  but  space  forbids.  No  "black  death"  of  Europe  ever 
worked  more  terrible  woe  than  the  contagion  brought  back 
from  the  Missouri  by  wandering  Assiniboines. 

The  account  of  the  siege  of  Richmond  by  the  Eskimos  is 
taken  from  Pott's  report  to  the  Company.  A  copy  of  this  the 
Winnipeg  Free  Press  recently  published  as  a  letter.  The  de- 
scription of  Richmond  is  from  Captain  Coates'  account.  Strange 
that  this  Richmond  should  have  gone  back  to  the  state  of  deso- 
lation in  which  Coates  found  it.  It  was  Coates  who  named  all 
the  places  of  this  region. 

Nearly  every  great  mineral  discovery  of  America  was  pre- 
ceded by  the  predictions  of  the  fur  trader.  It  will  be  interesting 
to  watch  if  Hearne's  copper  mine  is  ever  re-discovered. 

The  story  of  Ross  and  Tomson  and  Farrant,  I  found  first 
in  the  minutes  of  H.  B.  C.  House  and  then  in  Umfreville's  ac- 
count of  life  at  York. 

I  have  throughout  referred  to  Prince  of  Wales  Fort  as  Church- 
ill, as  the  constant  changing  of  names  confuses  the  reader. 

From  the  records  it  is  impossible  to  tell  whether  the  post 
Whale  River  was  Little  Whale,  or  Great  Whale.  Judging  from 
the  fact  that  the  journey  was  performed  by  dog-sled  in  a  night, 
to  Richmond,  it  must  have  been  the  nearer  post. 


387 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 


I  have  not  referred  to  the  mistake  in  latitude  made  by  Heame 
in  his  journey  North,  for  which  so  many  critics  censure  him.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  know  how  many  men  would  have  been 
in  a  condition  to  take  any  observation  at  all  after  a  week's 
sleepless  marching  and  the  horrors  of  the  massacre. 

Heame's  picture  will  be  found  in  "Pathfinders  of  the  West." 


388 


CHAPTER  XX 

1760-1810 

"the  coming  of  the  pedlars" — A  NEW  RACE  OF 
WOOD-ROVERS  THRONGS  TO  THE  NORTHWEST — 
BANDITS  OF  THE  WILDS  WAR  AMONG  THEM- 
SELVES— TALES  OF  BORDER  WARFARE,  WASSAIL 
AND  GRANDEUR — THE  NEW  NORTHWEST  COM- 
PANY CHALLENGES  THE  AUTHORITY  AND  FEU- 
DALISM OF  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY 

LA  PEROUSE'S  raid  on  Churchill  and  York 
was  the  least  of  the  misfortunes  that  now 
beset  the  English  Adventurers.  Within 
a  year  from  the  French  victory,  the  English  prisoners 
had  been  ransomed  from  France  and  the  dismantled 
forts  were  rebuilt.  It  was  a  subtler  foe  that  menaced 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Down  at  Abbittibbi, 
halfway  to  Quebec — in  at  Henley  House  and  Mar- 
tin's Falls  and  Osnaburg  House  on  the  way  from 
Albany  to  the  modern  Manitoba — up  the  Saskatche- 
wan, where  Cocking  and  Batts  and  Walker  held  the 
forts  for  trade — between  Churchill  and  Athabasca, 
where  Longmore  and  Ross  had  been  sent  on  Hearne's 
trail — yes,   even  at   the   entrance    to    the   Rockies, 

389 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

where  Mr.  Howse  and  the  astronomer  Turner  had 
found  a  pass  leading  from  the  headwaters  of  the 
Saskatchewan,  constantly  there  emerged  from  the 
woods,  or  swept  gayly  up  in  light  birch  canoes, 
strange  hunters,  wildwood  rovers,  free  lances,  men 
with  packs  on  their  backs,  who  knocked  nonchalantly 
at  the  gates  of  the  English  posts  for  a  night's  lodging 
and  were  eagerly  admitted  because  it  was  safer  to 
have  a  rival  trader  under  your  eye  than  out  among 
the  Indians  creating  bedlam  by  the  free  distribution 
of  rum. 

"Pedlars,"  the  English  called  these  newcomers, 
who  overran  the  sacred  territory  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  as  though  royal  charters  were  a  joke 
and  trading  monopolies  as  extinct  as  the  dodo.  It 
was  all  very  well  to  talk  of  the  rights  of  your  charter, 
but  what  became  of  your  rights  if  interlopers  stole 
them  while  you  talked  about  them?  And  what  was 
the  use  of  sending  men  to  drum  up  trade  and  bring 
Indians  down  to  the  bay  with  their  furs,  if  pedlars 
caught  the  Indians  halfway  down  at  portage,  carry- 
ing place  and  hunting  rendezvous,  and  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  those  Indians  owed  the  English  for 
half-a-dozen  years'  outfit — rifled  away  the  best  of  the 
furs,  sometimes  by  the  free  distribution  of  rum, 
sometimes  by  such  seditious  talk  as  that  "the  Eng- 
lish had  no  rights  in  this  country  anyway  and  the 

390 


^^The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars'' 


Indians  were  fools  to  become  slaves  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company?" 

This  was  a  new  kind  of  challenge  to  feudalism. 
Sooner  or  later  it  was  bound  to  come.  The  ultimate 
umpire  of  all  things  in  life  is — Fact.  Was  the 
charter  valid  that  gave  this  empire  of  trade  to  a  few 
Englishmen,  or  was  it  buncombe?  ''The  Pedlars" 
didn't  talk  about  their  rights.  They  took  them. 
That  was  to  be  supreme  test  of  the  English  Com- 
pany's rights.  Somebody  else  took  the  rights,  and 
there  were  good  reasons  why  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  did  not  care  to  bring  a  question  of  its 
rights  before  the  courts.  When  the  charter  was 
confirmed  by  act  of  Parliament  in  1697,  ^^  was  speci- 
fied for  only  seven  years.  At  the  end  of  that  period 
the  Company  did  not  seek  a  renewal.  Request  for 
renewal  would  of  itself  be  acknowledgment  of  doubt 
as  to  the  charter.  The  Company  preferred  "to  have 
and  to  hold,"  rather  than  risk  adverse  decision. 
They  contented  themselves  with  blocking  the  peti- 
tions of  rivals  for  trade  privileges  on  the  bay,  but  the 
eruption  of  these  wild  wood  rovers — "The  French 
Canadian  Pedlars" — was  a  contingency  against 
which  there  seemed  to  be  no  official  redress. 

It  remained  only  for  the  old  Company  to  gird 
itself  to  the  fray — a  fight  with  bandits  and  free- 
booters and  raiders  in  a  region  where  was  law  of 

391 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

neither  God  nor  man.  Sales  had  fallen  to  a  paltry 
£2,000  a  year.  Dividends  stopped  altogether.  Value 
of  stock  fell  from  ;^25o  to  £50.  The  Company  ad- 
vertised for  men — more  men.  Agents  scoured  the 
Orkneys  and  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  for  recruits, 
each  to  sign  for  five  years,  a  bounty  of  £8  to  be  paid 
each  man.  Five  ships  a  year  sailed  to  the  bay. 
Three  hundred  ''patroons"  were  yearly  sent  into 
the  woods,  and  when  their  time  expired — strange  to 
relate — they  did  not  return  to  Scotland.  What  be- 
came of  them?  Letters  ceased  to  come  home.  In- 
quiries remained  unanswered.  The  wilderness  had 
absorbed  them  and  their  bones  lay  bleaching  on  the 
unsheltered  prairie  where  the  arrow  of  Indian  raider 
inspired  by  "the  Pedlars"  had  shot  them  as  they 
traversed  the  plains.  No  wonder  service  with  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  became  ill-omened  in  the 
Orkneys  and  the  Highlands !  In  spite  of  the  bounty 
of  £8  a  man,  their  agents  were  at  their  wits'  ends 
for  recruits. 

When  Hendry  had  gone  up  the  Saskatchewan  in 
1754,  he  had  seen  the  houses  of  French  traders. 
French  power  fell  at  Quebec  in  1759,  and  the  French 
wood-rovers  scattered  to  the  wilds;  but  when  Cock- 
ing went  up  the  Saskatchewan  in  1772,  what  was  his 
amazement  to  find  these  French  rovers  organized 
under  leadership  of  Scotch  merchants  from  Montreal 

392 


The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars' 


— Curry,  and  Frobisher,  and  McTavish,  and  Todd, 
and  McGill,  and  McGillivrays. 

Under  French  rule,  fur  trade  had  been  regulated 
by  license.  Under  English  rule  was  no  restriction. 
First  to  launch  out  from  Montreal  with  a  cargo  of 
goods  for  trade,  was  Alexander  Henry,  senior,  in 
1760.  From  the  Michilimackinac  region  and  west- 
ward, Henry  in  ten  years,  from  1765  to  1775,  brought 
back  to  Montreal  such  a  wealth  of  furs,  that  peltry 
trade  became  a  fever.  No  capital  was  needed  but 
the  capital  of  boundless  daring.  Montreal  merchants 
advanced  goods  for  trade.  One  went  with  the 
canoes  as  partner  and  commander.  Three  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  goods  constituted  a  load.  French- 
men were  engaged  as  hunters  and  voyageurs — eight 
to  a  canoe,  and  before  the  opening  of  the  century,  as 
many  as  five  hundred  canoes  yearly  passed  up  the 
Ottawa  from  Montreal  for  the  Pays  d'  en  Haul, 
west  of  Lake  Superior,  ten  and  twenty  canoes  in  a 
brigade.  In  this  way,  Thomas  Curry  had  gone 
from  Lake  Superior  to  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  Lake 
Winnipeg  up  the  Saskatchewan,  in  1766,  as  far  as 
the  Forks,  bribing  that  renegade  Louis  Primo,  to 
steal  the  furs  bought  by  Cocking  for  the  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  to  lead  the  brigade  on  down  to  Montreal. 
One  voyage  sufficed  to  yield  Curry  $50,000  clear, 
a  sum  that  was  considered  a  fortune  in  those  days, 

393 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

and  enabled  him  to  retire.  The  fur  fever  became 
an  epidemic,  a  mania.  James  Finlay  of  Montreal, 
in  1 77 1,  pushed  up  the  Saskatchewan  beyond  the 
Forks,  or  what  is  now  Prince  Albert.  Todd,  Mc- 
Gill  &  Company  outfitted  Joseph  and  Benjamin 
Frobisher  for  a  dash  north  of  the  Saskatchewan  in 
1772-5,  where,  by  the  luckiest  chance  in  the  world, 
they  met  the  Chippewyan  and  Athabasca  Indians 
on  their  way  to  Churchill  with  furs  for  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.  The  Frobishers  struck  up  friend- 
ship with  "English  Chief" — leader  of  the  Indian 
brigades — plied  the  argument  of  rum  night  and  day, 
bade  the  Indians  ignore  their  debts  to  the  English 
company,  offered  to  outfit  them  for  the  next  year's 
hunt  and  bagged  the  entire  cargo  of  furs — such  an 
enormous  quantity  that  they  could  take  down  only 
half  the  cargo  that  year  and  had  to  leave  the  other 
half  cached,  to  the  everlasting  credit  of  the  Indian's 
honesty  and  discredit  of  the  white  man's.  Hence- 
forth, this  post  was  known  as  Portage  de  Traite.  It 
led  directly  from  the  Saskatchewan  to  the  Athabasca 
and  became  a  famous  meeting  place.  Portage  ''of 
the  Stretched  Frog"  the  Indians  called  it,  for  the 
Frobishers  had  been  so  keen  on  the  trade  that  they 
had  taught  the  Indians  how  to  stretch  skins,  and 
the  Indians  had  responded  in  mischief  by  tacking  a 
stretched  frog  skin  on  the  door  of  the  cabin.    Push- 

394 


^*The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars'' 


ing  yet  farther  toward  Athabasca,  the  Frobisher 
brothers  built  another  post  norwestward,  Isle  a  la 
Crosse,  on  an  island  where  the  Indians  met  for  the 
sport  of  lacrosse. 

Besides  the  powerful  house  of  McTavish,  Frob- 
isher, Todd,  McGill  and  McGillivray,  were  hosts 
of  lesser  traders  who  literally  peddled  their  goods  to 
the  Indians.  In  1778,  these  pedlars  pooled  their 
stock  and  outfitted  Peter  Pond  to  go  on  beyond  the 
Frobisher  posts  to  Athabasca.  Here,  some  miles 
south  of  the  lake,  Pond  built  his  fort.  Pond  was  a 
Boston  man  of  boundless  ambition  and  energy  but 
utterly  unscrupulous.  While  at  Athabasca,  he  heard 
from  the  Indians  rumors  of  the  Russian  fur  traders 
on  the  Pacific  Coast  and  he  drew  that  famous  map 
of  the  interior,  which  was  to  be  presented  to  the 
Empress  of  Russia.  He  seems  to  have  been  cherish- 
ing secret  designs  of  a  great  fur  monopoly. 

Fur  posts  sprang  up  on  the  waterways  of  the  West 
like  mushrooms.  Rum  flowed  like  water — 50,000 
gallons  a  year  "the  pedlars"  brought  to  the  Sas- 
katchewan from  Montreal.  Disorders  were  bound 
to  ensue.  At  Eagle  Hills  near  Battleford,  in  1780, 
the  drunken  Crees  became  so  obstreperous  in  their 
demands  for  more  liquor  that  the  three  terrified 
traders  cooped  up  in  their  house  tried  to  save  them- 
selves by  putting  laudanum  in  the  liquor.    An  Indian 

395 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

was  drugged  to  death.  The  sobered  Crees  sulky 
from  their  debauch,  arose  to  a  man,  rammed  the 
doors,  stabbed  the  three  whites  and  seven  half-breed 
traders  to  death,  burnt  the  fort  and  sent  coureurs 
running  from  tribe  to  tribe  across  the  prairie  to 
conspire  for  a  massacre  of  all  white  traders  in  the 
country.  Down  on  the  Assiniboine  at  what  is  now 
known  as  Portage  la  Prairie,  where  the  canoemen 
portaged  across  to  Lake  Manitoba  and  so  to  Lake 
Winnipeg  and  the  Saskatchewan,  were  three  strong 
trading  houses  under  two  men  called  Brice  and 
Boyer.  With  them  were  twenty-three  Frenchmen. 
Three  different  companies  had  their  rendezvous 
here.  The  men  were  scattered  in  the  three  houses 
and  off  guard  when  one  night  the  darkness  was  made 
hideous  by  the  piercing  war  cry  of  the  Assiniboines. 
Before  lights  could  be  put  out,  the  painted  warriors 
had  swooped  down  on  two  of  the  houses.  The 
whites  were  butchered  as  they  dashed  out — eleven 
men  in  as  many  seconds.  The  third  house  had 
warning  from  the  shots  at  the  others.  Brice  and 
Boyer  were  together.  Promptly,  lights  were  put  out, 
muskets  rammed  through  the  parchment  windows 
and  chinks  of  the  log  walls,  and  a  second  relay  of 
loaded  weapons  made  ready.  When  the  Assini- 
boines attempted  to  rush  the  third  house,  they  were 
met  with  a  solid  crash  of  musketry  that  mowed 

396 


^'The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars'' 


down  some  thirty  warriors  and  gave  the  assailants 
pause.  With  checked  ardor,  the  Indians  retreated 
to  the  other  houses.  They  could  at  least  starve  the 
white  men  out,  but  the  white  men  wisely  did  not 
wait.  While  the  Assiniboines  rioted,  drunk  on  the 
booty  of  rum  in  the  captured  cabins,  Brice  ordered 
all  liquor  spilt  in  his  house.  Taking  what  peltries 
he  could,  abandoning  the  rest,  Brice  led  a  dash  for 
the  river.  Darkness  favored  the  fugitive  whites. 
Three  only  of  the  retreating  men  fell  under  the 
shower  of  random  arrows — Belleau,  Facteau,  La- 
chance.  Launching  canoes  with  whispers  and  muf- 
fling their  paddles,  the  white  men  rowed  all  night, 
hid  by  day,  and  in  three  days  were  safe  with  the 
traders  at  the  Forks,  or  what  is  now  Winnipeg. 

Up  at  Athabasca,  Pond,  the  indomitable,  was 
setting  a  bad  example  for  lawless  work.  Wadin 
was  his  partner;  Le  Sieur,  his  clerk.  No  greater 
test  of  fairness  and  manhood  exists  than  to  box  two 
men  in  a  house  ten  by  ten  in  the  wilderness,  with 
no  company  but  their  own  year  in,  year  out.  Pond 
was  for  doing  impossibles — or  what  seemed  impos- 
sibles at  that  day.  He  had  sent  two  traders  down 
Big  River  (the  MacKenzie)  as  far  as  Slave  Lake. 
The  Indians  were  furiously  hostile.  Wadin,  the 
Swiss  partner,  opposed  all  risks.  Lonely,  unstrung 
and  ill-natured,  Pond  conceived  that  hatred  for  his 

397 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

partner  which  men,  who  have  been  tied  too  close  to  an 
alien  nature,  know.  The  men  had  come  to  blows. 
One  night  the  quarrel  became  so  hot,  Le  Sieur  with- 
drew from  the  house.  He  had  gone  only  a  few 
steps  when  he  heard  two  shots.  Rushing  back,  he 
found  the  Swiss  weltering  in  his  blood  on  the  floor. 
"  Be  off !  Never  let  me  see  your  face  again,"  shouted 
the  wounded  man,  catching  sight  of  Pond.  Those 
were  his  last  words.  It  is  a  terrible  commentary  on 
civilization  that  the  first  blood  shed  in  the  Athabasca 
was  that  of  a  white  man  slain  by  a  white  man;  but 
the  Athabasca  was  three  thousand  miles  away  from 
punishment  and  the  merry  game  had  only  begun. 
Later,  Pond  was  tried  for  this  crime,  but  acquitted 
in  Montreal. 

Roving  Assiniboines  had  visited  the  Mandanes 
of  the  Missouri,  this  year.  They  brought  back  with 
them  not  only  stolen  horses,  but  an  unknown,  un- 
seen horror — the  germ  of  smallpox — which  ran  like 
a  fiery  scourge  for  three  years,  from  Red  River  and 
the  Assiniboine  to  the  Rockies,  sweeping  off  two- 
thirds  of  the  native  population.  Camp  after  camp, 
tribe  after  tribe,  was  attacked  and  utterly  destroyed, 
leaving  no  monument  but  a  heap  of  bleaching  bones 
scraped  clean  by  the  wolves.  Tent  leather  flapped 
lonely  to  the  wind,  rotting  on  the  tepee  poles  where 
Death  had  spared  not  a  soul  of  a  whole  encampment. 

398 


"T/te  Coming  of  the  Pedlars*' 


In  vain  the  maddened  Indians  made  offerings  to 
their  gods,  slew  their  children  to  appease  this  Death 
Demon's  wrath,  and  cast  away  all  their  belongings. 
Warriors  mounted  their  fleetest  horses  and  rode 
like  mad  to  outrace  the  Death  they  fancied  was  pur- 
suing them.  Delirious  patients  threw  themselves 
into  the  lakes  and  rivers  to  assuage  suffering.  The 
epidemic  was  of  terrible  virulence.  The  young  and 
middle-aged  fell  victims  most  readily,  and  many  aged 
parents  committed  suicide  rather  than  live  on,  bereft 
of  their  children.  There  was  an  end  to  all  conspiracy 
for  a  great  uprising  and  massacre  of  the  whites.  The 
whites  had  fled  before  the  scourge  as  terrified  as  were 
the  Indians  and  for  three  years  there  was  scarcely  a 
fur  trader  in  the  country  from  the  Missouri  to  the 
Saskatchewan. 

During  the  interval,  the  merchants  of  Montreal 
had  put  their  heads  together.  Division  and  inter- 
necine warfare  in  the  face  of  Indian  hostility  and 
the  Hudson's  Bay  traders  steady  advancement  in- 
land, were  folly.  The  Montrealers  must  unite.  The 
united  traders  were  known  as  the  Northwest  Com- 
pany. The  Company  had  no  capital.  Montreal 
partners  who  were  merchants  outfitted  the  canoes 
with  goods.  Men  experienced  in  the  trade  led  the 
brigades  westward.  The  former  gave  credit  for  goods, 
the  latter  time  on  the  field.    The  former  acted  as 

399 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

agents  to  sell  the  furs,  the  latter  as  wintering  partners 
to  barter  for  the  furs  with  the  Indians.  To  each 
were  assigned  equal  shares — a  share  apiece  to  each 
partner,  or  sixteen  shares  in  all,  in  the  first  place; 
later  increased  to  twenty  and  forty-six  and  ninety-six 
shares  as  the  Company  absorbed  more  and  more 
of  the  free  traders.  As  a  first  charge  against  the 
proceeds  were  the  wages  of  the  voyageurs — £ioo  a 
year,  five  times  as  much  as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany paid  for  the  same  workers.  Then  the  cost  of 
the  goods  was  deducted — $3,000  a  canoe — and  in  the 
early  days  ninety  canoes  a  year  were  sent  North. 
Later,  when  the  Nor'Westers  absorbed  all  opposi- 
tion, the  canoes  increased  to  five  hundred.  The 
net  returns  were  then  divided  into  sixteen  parts  and 
the  profits  distributed  to  the  partners.  By  1787, 
shares  were  valued  at  ;^8oo  each.  At  first,  net  re- 
turns were  as  small  as  £40,000  a  year,  but  this  divi- 
dend among  only  sixteen  partners  gave  what  was 
considered  a  princely  income  in  those  days.  Later, 
net  returns  increased  to  £120,000  and  £200,000,  but 
by  this  time  the  number  of  partners  was  ninety-six. 
Often  the  yearly  dividend  was  £400  a  share.  As 
many  as  200,000  beaver  were  sold  by  the  Nor'Westers 
in  a  year,  and  the  heaviest  buyer  of  furs  at  Montreal 
was  John  Jacob  Astor  of  New  York.  Chief  among 
the  Eastern  agents,  were  the  two  Frobisher  brothers, 

400 


The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars" 


Benjamin  and  Joseph — McGill,  Todd,  Holmes,  and 
Simon  McTavish,  the  richest  merchant  of  Montreal, 
nicknamed  "the  Marquis"  for  his  pompous  air  of 
wearing  prosperity.  Chief  among  the  wintering 
partners  were  Peter  Pond,  the  American  of  Atha- 
basca fame,  the  McGillivrays,  nephews  of  McTavish; 
the  MacLeods,  the  Grants,  the  Camerons,  Mac- 
intoshes, Shaws,  McDonalds,  Finlays,  Frasers,  and 
Henry,  nephew  of  the  Henry  who  first  went  to 
Michilimackinac. 

Not  only  did  the  new  company  forthwith  send 
ninety  canoes  to  the  North  by  way  of  Lake  Superior, 
but  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  were  sent  through 
Lake  Ontario  and  Lake  Erie  to  Detroit,  for  the  fur 
region  between  Lake  Huron  and  the  Mississippi, 
It  was  at  this  period  that  the  Canadian  Government 
was  besieged  for  a  monopoly  of  trade  west  of  Lake 
Superior,  in  return  for  which  the  Nor'Westers 
promised  to  explore  the  entire  region  between  the 
Great  Lakes  and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  When  the 
Government  refused  to  grant  the  monopoly,  the 
Nor'Westers  stopped  asking  for  rights.  They  pre- 
pared to  take  them. 

In  Montreal,  the  Nor'Westers  were  lords  in  the 
ascendant,  socially  and  financially,  living  with  lavish 
and  regal  hospitality,  keeping  one  strong  hand  on 
their  interests  in  the  West,  the  other  hand  on  the 

401 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

pulse  of  the  government.  Some  of  the  partners 
were  members  of  the  Assembly.  All  were  men  of 
public  influence,  and  when  a  wintering  partner  re- 
tired to  live  in  Montreal,  he  usually  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  governing  clique.  The  Beaver  Club  with 
the  appropriate  motto,  "Fortitude  in  Distress,"  was 
the  partners'  social  rendezvous,  and  coveted  were 
the  social  honors  of  its  exclusive  membership.  Gov- 
ernors and  councillors,  military  heroes  and  foreign 
celebrities  counted  it  an  honor  to  be  entertained  at 
the  Beaver  Club  with  its  lavish  table  groaning  under 
weight  of  old  wines  from  Europe  and  game  from 
the  Pays  cfen  Haul.  ''To  discuss  the  merits  of  a 
beaver  tail,  or  moose  nose,  or  bear's  paw,  or  buffalo 
hump" — was  the  way  a  Nor'West  partner  invited  a 
guest  to  dinner  at  the  Beaver  Club,  and  I  would  not 
like  to  testify  that  the  hearty  partners  did  not  turn 
night  into  day  and  drink  themselves  under  the 
mahogany  before  they  finished  entertaining  a  guest. 
Most  lordly  of  the  grandees  was,  of  course,  "the 
Marquis,"  Simon  McTavish,  who  built  himself  a 
magnificent  manor  known  as  "the  Haunted  House," 
on  the  mountain.  He  did  not  live  to  enjoy  it  long, 
for  he  died  in  1804.  Indeed,  it  was  a  matter  of 
comment  how  few  of  the  ninety-six  partners  lived 
to  a  good  old  age  in  possession  of  their  hard-earned 
wealth. 

402 


The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars'' 


"No  wonder,"  sarcastically  commented  a  good 
bishop,  who  had  been  on  the  field  and  seen  how  the 
wealth  was  earned,  "when  the  devil  sows  the  seed, 
he  usually  looks  after  the  harvest." 

But  it  was  not  all  plain  sailing  from  the  formation 
of  the  Company.  Pond  and  Pangman,  the  two 
Boston  men,  who  had  been  in  the  North  when  the 
partnership  was  arranged,  were  not  satisfied  with 
their  shares.  Pond  was  won  over  to  the  Nor'Westers, 
but  Pangman  joined  a  smaller  company  with  Greg- 
ory, and  MacLeod,  and  Alexander  MacKenzie,  and 
Finlay.  MacKenzie,  who  was  to  become  famous 
as  a  discoverer,  was  sent  to  Isle  a  la  Crosse  to  inter- 
cept furs  on  the  way  to  Hudson  Bay.  Ross  was 
sent  up  to  oppose  Peter  Pond  of  the  Nor'Westers  in 
Athabasca.  Bostonnais  Pangman  went  up  the  Sas- 
katchewan to  the  Rockies,  with  headquarters  at 
what  is  now  Edmonton,  and  the  rest  of  what  were 
known  as  the  Little  Company  faithfully  dogged  the 
Nor'Westers'  footsteps  and  built  a  trading  house 
wherever  Indians  gathered. 

Failing  to  establish  a  monopoly  by  law,  the  Nor'- 
Westers set  themselves  to  do  it  without  law.  The 
Little  Company  must  be  exterminated.  Because 
Alexander  MacKenzie  later  became  one  of  the  Nor'- 
Westers, the  details  have  never  been  given  to  the 
public,  but  at  La  Crosse  where  he  waited  to  barter 

403 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Great  Northwest 

for  the  furs  coming  from  the  North  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay,  the  Nor'Westers  camped  on  his  trail.  The 
crisis  in  rivalry  was  to  meet  the  approaching  Indian 
brigades.  The  trader  that  met  them  first,  usually 
got  the  furs.  Spies  were  sent  in  all  directions  to 
watch  for  the  Indians,  and  spies  dogged  the  steps  of 
spies.  It  was  no  unusual  thing  for  one  side  to  find 
the  Indians  first  and  for  a  rival  spy  to  steal  the 
victory  by  bludgeoning  the  discoverer  into  uncon- 
sciousness or  treating  him  to  a  drink  of  drugged 
whiskey.  In  the  scuffle  and  maneuver  for  the  trade, 
one  of  Alexander  MacKenzie's  partners  was  mur- 
dered, another  of  his  men  lamed,  a  third  narrowly 
escaping  death  through  the  assassin's  bullet  being 
stopped  by  a  powderhorn ;  but  the  point  was  — 
MacKenzie  got  the  furs  for  the  Little  Company. 
The  Nor'Westers  were  beaten. 

Up  at  Athabasca,  Pond,  the  Nor' Wester  was  op- 
posed by  Ross,  the  Little  Company  man.  Hearne, 
of  Hudson's  Bay,  had  been  to  Athabasca  first  of  all 
explorers,  but  Pond  was  the  first  of  the  Montreal 
men  to  reach  the  famous  fur  region  of  the  North, 
and  he  did  not  purpose  seeing  his  labors  filched  away 
by  the  Little  Company.  When  Laroux  brought  the 
Indians  from  Slave  Lake  to  the  Nor'Westers  and 
Ross  attempted  to  approach  them,  there  was  a 
scuffle.    The  Little  Company  leader  fell  pierced  by 

404 


*'The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars" 


a  bullet  from  a  revolver  smoking  in  the  hand  of 
Peter  Pond.  Did  Pond  shoot  Ross?  Was  it  acci- 
dental? These  questions  can  never  be  answered. 
This  was  the  second  murder  for  which  Pond  was 
responsible  in  the  Athabasca,  and  ill-omened  news 
of  it  ran  like  wildfire  south  to  Isle  a  la  Crosse  and 
Portage  de  Traite  where  Alexander  MacKenzie  and 
his  cousin  Roderick  were  encamped.  Nor'Westers 
and  Little  Company  men  alike  were  shocked.  For 
the  Montreal  men  to  fight  among  themselves  meant 
alienation  of  the  Indians  and  victory  for  the  Hud- 
son's Bay.  Roderick  MacKenzie  of  the  Little  Com- 
pany and  William  McGillivray  of  the  Nor'Westers 
decided  to  hasten  down  to  Montreal  with  the  sum- 
mer brigades  and  urge  a  union  of  both  organizations. 
Locking  canoes  abreast,  with  crews  singing  in  unison, 
the  rival  leaders  set  out  together,  and  the  union  was 
effected  in  1787  by  the  Nor'Westers  increasing  their 
shares  to  admit  all  the  partners  of  the  Gregory  and 
MacKenzie  concern.  Pond  sold  his  interests  to  the 
MacGillivrays  and  retired  to  Boston. 

The  strongest  financial,  social  and  political  inter- 
ests of  Eastern  Canada  were  now  centered  in  the 
Northwest  Company.  There  were  ways  of  dis- 
couraging independent  merchants  from  sending 
pedlars  to  the  North.  Boycott,  social  or  financial, 
the  pulling  of  political  strings  that  withheld  a  gov- 

405 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

ernment  passport,  a  hint  that  if  the  merchant  wanted 
a  hand  in  the  trade  it  would  be  cheaper  for  him  to 
pool  his  interests  with  the  Nor' Westers  than  risk  a 
$3,000  load  on  his  own  account — kept  the  field  clear 
or  brought  about  absorption  of  all  rivals  till  1801. 
Then  a  Dominique  Rousseau  essayed  an  independ- 
ent venture  led  by  his  clerk,  Hervieux.  Grand 
Portage  on  Lake  Superior  was  the  halfway  post 
between  Montreal  and  the  Pays  d'en  Haul  —  the 
metropolis  of  the  Nor' Westers'  domain.  Here  came 
Hervieux' s  brigade  and  pitched  camp  some  hundred 
yards  away  from  the  Nor'West  palisades.  Hardly 
had  Hervieux  landed  when  there  marched  across 
to  him  three  officers  of  the  Northwest  Company,  led 
by  Duncan  McGillivray,  who  ordered  the  new- 
comers to  be  off  on  pain  of  death,  as  all  the  land 
here  was  Northwest  property.  Hervieux  stood  his 
ground  stoutly  as  a  British  subject  and  demanded 
proof  that  the  country  belonged  to  the  Northwest 
Company.  To  the  Nor'Westers,  such  a  demand 
was  high  treason.  McGillivray  retorted  he  would 
send  proof  enough.  The  partners  withdrew,  but 
there  sallied  out  of  the  fort  a  party  of  the  famous 
Northwest  bullies — prize  fighters  kept  in  trim  for 
the  work  in  hand.  Drawing  knives,  they  cut  Herv- 
ieux's  tents  to  shreds,  scattered  his  merchandise  to 
the  four  winds  and  bedrubbed  the  little  men,  who 

406 


The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars'* 


tried  to  defend  it,  as  if  they  had  been  so  many  school 
boys. 

"You  demand  our  title  to  possession?  You  want 
proofs  that  we  hold  this  country?  Eh?  Bien! 
Voila!  There's  proof!  Take  it;  but  if  you  dare 
to  go  into  the  interior,  there  will  be  more  than  tents 
cut!    Look  out  for  your  throats." 

Totally  ruined,  Hervieux  was  compelled  to  go 
back  to  Montreal,  where  his  master  in  vain  sued  the 
Nor'Westers.  The  Nor'Westers  were  not  respon- 
sible. It  was  plain  as  day:  they  had  not  ordered 
those  bullies  to  come  out,  and  those  bullies  were  a 
matter  of  three  thousand  miles  away  and  could  not 
be  called  as  witnesses. 

Determined  not  to  be  beaten,  Rousseau  attempted 
a  second  venture  in  1806,  this  time  two  canoes  under 
fearless  fellows  led  by  one  Delorme,  who  knew  the 
route  to  the  interior.  He  instructed  Delorme  to 
avoid  clashing  with  the  Nor'Westers  by  skirting 
round  their  headquarters  on  Lake  Superior,  if 
necesssary  by  traveling  at  night  till  beyond  de- 
tection. Delorme  was  four  days'  march  beyond 
Lake  Superior  when  Donald  McKay,  a  Nor'Wester, 
suddenly  emerged  from  the  underbrush  leading  a 
dozen  wood-rovers.  Not  a  word  was  said.  No 
threats.  No  blustering.  This  was  a  no-man's- 
land  where  there  was  no  law  and  everyone  could  do 

407 


The  Conquest  of  the  Great  Northwest 

as  he  liked.  McKay  liked  to  do  a  very  odd  thing 
just  at  this  juncture,  just  at  this  place.  His  bush- 
lopers  hurried  on  down  stream  in  advance  of  De- 
lorme's  canoes  and  leveled  a  veritable  barricade  of 
trees  across  the  trail.  Then  they  went  to  the  rear 
of  Delorme  and  leveled  another  barricade.  Delorme 
didn't  attempt  to  out-maneuver  his  rivals.  At  most 
he  had  only  sixteen  men,  and  that  kind  of  a  game 
meant  a  free  fight  and  on  one  side  or  the  other — 
murder.  He  sold  out  both  his  cargoes  to  McKay 
at  prices  current  in  Montreal,  and  retreated  from  the 
fur  country,  leaving  the  sardonic  Nor'Westers  smiling 
in  triumph.  These  were  some  of  the  ways  by  which 
the  Nor'Westers  dissuaded  rivals  from  invading 
the  Pays  d'en  Haul.  On  their  part,  they  probably 
justified  their  course  by  arguing  that  rivalry  would 
at  once  lead  to  such  murders  as  those  in  the  Atha- 
basca. In  their  secret  councils,  they  well  knew  that 
they  were  keeping  small  rivals  from  the  field  to  be 
free  for  the  fight  against  the  greatest  rival  of  all — 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

Footnote  to  Chapter  XX. — The  contents  of  this  chapter  are 
taken  primarily  from  the  records  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  House; 
secondarily,  from  the  Journals  of  the  Nor'West  partners  as 
published  by  Senator  Masson,  Prof.  Coues,  and  others;  also, 
and  most  important,  from  such  old  missionary  annals  as  those 
of  the  Oblates  and  other  missionaries  like  Abbe  Dugas,  Tassd, 
Grandin,  Provencher  and  others.  In  the  most  of  cases,  the 
missionary  writer  was  not  himself  the  actor  (there  are  two  ex- 
ceptions to  this)  but  he  was  in  direct  contact  with  the  living 

408 


''''The  Coming  of  the  Pedlars' 


actor  and  took  his  facts  on  the  spot,  so  that  his  testimony  is 
even  more  non-partisan  than  the  carefully  edited  Masson  essay 
and  records.  I  consider  these  various  missionary  legends  the 
most  authentic  source  of  the  history  of  the  period,  though  their 
evidence  is  most  damning  to  both  sides.  These  annals  are  ex- 
clusively published  by  Catholic  organizations  and  so  unfor- 
tunately do  not  reach  the  big  public  of  which  they  are  deserving. 

The  exact  way  in  which  the  N.  W.  C.  was  formed,  I  found 
very  involved  in  the  Masson  essay.  A  detailed  account  of  all 
steps  in  the  organization  is  very  plainly  given  in  the  petitions 
of  the  Frobisher  Brothers,  Peter  Pond  and  McGill  to  Gov.  Haldi- 
mand  for  a  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade.  The  petitions  are  in  the 
Canadian  Archives.  A  curious  fear  is  revealed  in  all  these  peti- 
tions— that  the  Americans  may  reach  and  possess  the  Pacific 
Coast  first.  As  a  matter  of  fact  that  is  exactly  what  Grey  and 
Lewis  and  Clarke  did  in  the  Oregon  region. 

From  the  H.  B.  C.  Archives  I  find  the  following  data  on  this 
era:  Batts  and  Walker  and  Peter  Fidler  held  the  mouth  of  the 
Saskatchewan  for  the  English;  one  Goodwin  worked  south 
from  Albany  almost  to  Lake  Superior  and  west  to  modern 
Manitoba;  naif  a  dozen  French  run-aways  from  the  N.  W.  C. 
were  engaged  as  spies  at  ;iCioo  a  year;  the  Martin  Falls  House 
is  built  inland  from  Albany  in  1782;  in  spite  of  ignominious 
surrender,  Hearne  and  Humphrey  Martin  go  back  as  Governors 
of  Churchill  and  York;  Edward  Umfreville  leaves  the  H.  B.  C. 
(wages  £1^1)  and  joins  the  N.  W.  C;  Martin  and  Hearne,  La 
Perouse's  prisoners,  were  dropped  at  Stromness  in  November, 
whether  on  the  way  to  France  or  back  from  France,  I  can't  tell; 
their  letters  do  not  reach  the  H.  B.  C.  till  March,  1783  ;  William 
Paulson  is  surgeon  at  East  Main;  no  dividends  from  1782  to 
1786;  Joseph  Colen  succeeds  Martin  at  York  in  '86;  William 
Auld  succeeds  Hearne  at  Churchill  in  '96;  James  Hourie  is 
massacred  by  the  Indians  of  East  Main;  H.  B.  C.  servants  from 
the  growing  dangers  become  mutinous,  six  are  fined  at  East 
Main  for  mutiny;  four  at  York  fined  £^  each,  namely  Magnus 
Tait,  Alex.  Gunn,  John  Irvine,  Benj.  Bruce,  two  at  Churchill 
£20  each,  Robert  Pexman  and  Henry  Hodges.  Andrew  Gra- 
ham, the  old  factor  of  Severn,  being  now  destitute  at  Edinburg, 
is  given  thirty  guineas  in  1801. 


409 


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